Written question asked by Tom Hunt (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 June 2022, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 23 June 2022. It was answered by Victoria Atkins (Conservative) on Wednesday, 29 June 2022 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisoners: Literacy

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the quality of literacy education in prisons.

Answer

The Prisons Strategy White Paper sets out the government’s ambition to equip all prisoners with the literacy skills they need to get jobs on release. To support this, HMPPS has introduced new performance measures for English and maths and we are holding Governors to account for improving the teaching of reading in their prisons.

The joint report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons and Ofsted on Prison education: a review of reading education in prisons highlighted the need to improve literacy education in prisons. To address its recommendations, we will review the current mechanisms for assessing and recording the levels of prisoners’ reading; improve the curriculum guidance given to governors to ensure they prioritise the teaching of reading and review teacher capability to ensure that all providers have staff who are properly qualified to teach reading.

We are also planning to develop a Literacy Innovation Scheme to encourage new providers to work with us to trial new approaches to teaching reading with the aim of driving up quality and improving outcomes across the estate.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 22565
Session: 2022-23
Subjects: Prisoners Literacy
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Prisoners: Literacy

Secondary information

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