Written question asked by Lord Garnier (Conservative) on Monday, 16 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 18 January 2006. It was answered by Fiona Mactaggart (Labour) on Thursday, 26 January 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

Prisons

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) full-time and (b) full-time equivalent literacy and numeracy teachers have been employed by the Prison Service in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answer: Learning and skills for offenders in custody in England are delivered by contractors. These contract arrangements mean that the teachers engaged in delivering literacy and numeracy in English prisons are employed not by the Prison Service but by external providers, largely further education colleges under the current arrangements.Numbers of literacy and numeracy teachers employed by contractors are not collected centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost. The Prison Service employs a total of 13.5 full-time equivalent literacy and numeracy teachers in its three establishments in Wales. Those arrangements have been in place since 1 September 2005. Prior to that, the Prison Service employed no literacy and numeracy teachers in England and Wales.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 43581; 441 c2364W;441 c2364-5W
Session: 2005-06
Related items: Prisoners
Wednesday, 1 March 2006
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Education Prisoners Prisons Staff Teachers HM Prison Service Literacy Numeracy
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk