Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2019 to Question 273816, how enabling a governor to determine (a) what the curriculum is, (b) how it is delivered, and (c) who delivers it will ensure a consistent approach to delivery.

Governor autonomy over curriculum and budget was a key recommendation of Dame Sally Coates’ review of prison education in 2016, alongside other recommendations to ensure high standards across the estate. The Government has taken these recommendations on board and taken steps to further improve the consistency of education and training across the prison estate, whilst at the same time providing more autonomy for governors.

On 1 April 2019, we introduced a new Prison Education and Library Services Policy Framework in England that outlines the elements of service delivery that governors are duty bound to follow to ensure consistency. This includes, but is not limited to; mandatory assessments in maths and English for all prisoners, screening for Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD) and ensuring that staff delivering learning receive effective Continuing Professional Development.

In addition, we have introduced a new core common curriculum of English, maths, ICT and English for speakers of other languages. We have also appointed four Common Awarding Organisations (City & Guilds; OCR; WAMITAB and Gateway Qualifications) in seven subjects. This means that a prisoner who starts a qualification in one prison will be able to complete it at another, rather than starting again as they move across the prison estate. This will also enable prisoners to follow their personal learning plan throughout the prison estate.

Standards and consistency will ultimately be ensured through robust, regular inspections by Ofsted, which holds prisons to the same standards as mainstream further education provision and an accountability measure, which is under development.