Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average amount of time was that a prisoner spent on education or work-related activities at HMP Wormwood Scrubs in the last period for which figures are available.

Our prison system needs reform. Without reform, there will be more reoffending, more crime, more victims and the public will be less safe. We want prisons to be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition, with incentives for prisoners to learn and for prison staff to prioritise education and work. Prison should help offenders get the skills and qualifications to make a success of life on the outside. When so many come into custody illiterate and innumerate it would be a travesty if we didn’t get them reading and writing when they are in our care.

Of the 1251 prisoners at HMP Wormwood, 665 are either remand or non-EU foreign national (FNO) prisoners. Non-EU FNO prisoners are not eligible for employment on release and therefore education funding for this cohort mainly concentrates on English as a second language and basic literacy and numeracy provision. Remand prisoners are not required to work though are able to access education if they choose to.

There are 556 activity spaces available daily at Wormwood Scrubs which involve work or education. There are a further 108 spaces related to resettlement activities or addressing reoffending needs.