Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of his Department’s spending on consultancy fees relating to the introduction of the new Prison Education Framework.

The Ministry of Justice has allocated a budget across financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19 of up to £300,000 for consultancy fees. This relates to the introduction of the new Prison Education Framework, the prison education Dynamic Purchasing System and prison library delivery. So far, £240,000 has been spent all on legal advice. The total value of the Prison Education Framework is expected to be up to £520 million over four years.

Information on spending by prisons in England on consultancy fees relating to the introduction of the new Prison Education Framework is not held centrally and would have to be obtained from each individual prison. This could only be done at disproportionate cost.

The Prison Education Framework does not apply in Wales.