Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the literacy levels of prisoners in England in each of the last five years.

Supporting prisoners to improve their literacy is an important part of prison education.

Assessment data from the previous Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS 4) contracts that show that in 2015/16, 57% of English assessments were assessed at entry level 1-3, this figure was 54% in the year 2016/17 and 62% in 2017/18.

Data for new prison education contracts has been collected from April 2019 and will be validated and published later this year.

As we develop the approach to prison education in the future, this will remain a key priority to support offenders into employment.