Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the new Prison Education Framework and Dynamic Provisioning System contracts on the continuity of education provision in prisons; and if he will make a statement.

We intend to undertake a full assessment of the impact of our prison education reforms. Our ground-breaking Education and Employment Strategy, published in May 2018, set out ambitious plans to give prison governors power and control over the education arrangements in their establishments. The Prison Education Framework and prison education Dynamic Purchasing System are key elements of reform, enabling a governor to determine what their curriculum is, how it is delivered and who delivers it. But our Strategy also made clear that consistency across the prison estate is necessary in some areas so that prisoners can move from one prison to another without disrupting their education. The Prison Education Framework is the means through which governors must deliver the core common curriculum of maths, English, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), whilst a suite of Concession Contracts with four Awarding Organisations means their qualifications will be used exclusively in the seven most commonly studied subjects. Both will ensure continuity, as will the arrangements we are mandating for assessment of reception, development of personal learning plans and common formats for data gathering and submission.