Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the estimated (1) numeracy, and (2) literacy, rate among prisoners in each of the last three years.

Prisons should be places of safety and reform. I am determined to make sure that we achieve better outcomes for all prisoners including in education, and I want to see much clearer accountability for prison governors for the education delivered in prison and the results prisoners achieve. Mandatory education assessments were introduced for the first time in August 2014, for all new receptions to custody in England. This shows that in the year to September 2015 fewer than half the people entering prisons had basic standards of English and maths, and around a third had identified learning difficulties or disabilities. Data prior to August 2014 is not available.

Prison education is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.