Prisons: Vocational Guidance

(asked on 30th January 2018) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many career advisors his Department plans to employ in each year up to 2022.


Answered by
 Portrait
Rory Stewart
This question was answered on 7th February 2018

The National Careers Service Contract is held by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and is funded by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. The in-custody element was not cancelled: the contract comes to an end on 31 March 2018.

In line with the commitment made in the white paper, Prison Safety and Reform, to review each national contract as it comes to an end, it was decided not to extend this contract further.

A wide range of factors affect the likelihood of a prisoner entering employment on release. Information, advice and guidance provided by Community Rehabilitation Companies, Department of Work and Pensions Prison Work Coaches and providers of Offender Learning and Skills Services, as well as National Careers Service delivery will have a positive impact on job outcomes post-custody. The Ministry of Justice does not itself employ career advisors in prison.

In October 2016, a Machinery of Government change transferred the budget for careers advice from the Department for Education to the Ministry of Justice. Spend prior to that period was controlled by the Department for Education. In 2016-17, £12.9m was spent on the National Careers Service in custody. Spend in 2017-18 is not yet available. The budgets for future financial years have not yet been finalised.

We do not hold information on the number of National Careers Service advisors employed in each prison in England and Wales in each year since 2010.

In Wales, all these matters are devolved to the Welsh Government.

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