Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been spent on education services in prisons over the last two years.

The spend on offender learning in England was £145.2m in the 2015-16 financial year and £146.7m in 2016-17. These figures exclude a number of private prisons where the operator is responsible for providing education under their contract with Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service.

As we announced in last November’s White Paper, we will devolve responsibility for prison education budgets to governors, empowering them to decide how education is organised, what curriculum is delivered and who provides the education.