Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on (a) reducing the level of prison violence and (b) improving the delivery of education and rehabilitation services.

We are taking urgent action to improve prison safety and security, alongside reforms to overhaul the system to focus on the rehabilitation of offenders. As a part of our £2.75 billion plan to transform the prison estate, we are investing £100 million to bolster security and tackle the supply of illicit items which drive prison violence and are rolling out our key worker model to provide individual support to each prisoner from a dedicated officer.

Up to £2.5 billion will be spent on creating 10,000 additional modern prison places to crack down on crime. Modern prisons provide better opportunities to reform criminals and cut the £18 billion cost of reoffending to society each year. Newer prisons are also more efficient to run and benefit the taxpayer in the longer term.

We publish quarterly statistics on violence in prisons, which are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics

We have made important improvements to education which will boost prisoners’ chances of gaining employment on release, and reduce their likelihood of reoffending.

On 1 April 2019, new prison education contracts commenced delivering services designed by Governors and their staff to best meet the specific needs of their prisoners and local labour markets. Governors can commission innovative short-term provision through a new education system. Additionally, the new Prison Education Service will build on this further by improving the range of training available to prisoners which is directly linked to real jobs on release.