Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of whether financial penalties could potentially be invoked against Novus in the event that prison education is disrupted as a result of strike action.

Contingency plans were put in place and enacted by Novus to manage the potential impact of industrial action by the University and College Union (UCU). There was limited impact on education delivery during the action.

Novus provide services under the Prison Education Framework contract which enables HMPPS to penalise providers for any non-delivery of education at site level where applicable. We continue to encourage UCU and Novus to engage proactively to resolve this dispute.