Written question asked by Lord Risby (Conservative) on Tuesday, 2 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 November 2004. It was answered by Paul Goggins (Labour) on Monday, 15 November 2004 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to improve literacy and numeracy amongst offenders; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to improve literacy and numeracy among offenders; and if he will make a statement. [196698] Paul Goggins: Since April 2001 over 130,000 nationally accredited literacy, numeracy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) qualifications from entry level to level 2 have been achieved by offenders in custody in England--a major contribution to the Government's targets for improving basic skills. We have appointed Heads of Learning and Skills in all prisons to drive up standards for improving literacy and numeracy. We are working closely with key partners to develop a new model for delivering a better and more integrated service for offenders, both in prison and in the community. The new service will be informed by development work in the north east, north west and south west regions, which will try out new models. To support this we are providing substantial additional investment to improve the quality and quantity of offender learning.

Secondary information