Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2026 to Question 36042 on Parents: prisoners, in which areas the pilot is taking place and in which of these there are relevant local authority support services available; and what the timeline is for a) completion and b) evaluation of the pilot and c) national roll out of best practice.

The department is currently holding initial meetings with the selected pilot local authority areas, following an expression of interest process. We have ensured a good geographical spread across England and will confirm the participating local authorities publicly in the coming months. All local authorities, including those participating in the pilot programme, have expertise in children’s social care and safeguarding, and have Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations in their area, with expertise on parental imprisonment. The pilot programme will run through to autumn 2028, which is the initial pilot end date. The pilot evaluation is due to be completed in winter 2028. As this is a test and learn pilot programme, findings will inform further thinking on wider roll out and potential national implementation.