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Adults with Learning Disabilities

It is tempting for me to be drawn into this debate. I was once a Skills Minister responsible for offender learning and education inside and outside the prison system. Back then, I was very concerned, but huge progress has been made to ensure that young people and adults assessed in the system—perhaps for their literacy and numeracy needs, a national vocational qualification or an apprenticeship, for example—are not simply reassessed as they move through or out of the system. We do not want a process of continual reassessment of needs without providing the training and skills required to meet those needs. That problem is now being addressed directly by my colleagues in the Ministry of Justice and in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. In two regions, we are piloting a campus model in which prison and probation institutions work together and treat the offenders whom they are managing like students on a university campus—that is not quite the right model, but Members will understand what I mean. It will enable somebody to move around the system, continuing their education and skills training, without having to repeat something—either the assessment or a part of the course. That requires investment in IT systems and good communication. The criminal justice system is complex, but huge steps have been taken. From memory, the two regions where the pilot is being conducted are the west midlands and the eastern region. That new approach will join up our approach, so that those barriers do not get in the way of people moving in and out of the system. Of course, that will also apply to adult offenders with learning disabilities.