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Written question asked by Paul Davies (Labour) on Friday, 3 January 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 7 January 2025. It was answered by Nicholas Dakin (Labour) on Monday, 13 January 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons: Literacy

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will allocate funding to support research on effective literacy interventions for prisoners.

Answer

We are evaluating some of the programmes to support literacy delivered by partners and will look to publish an evaluation report later in 2025. We are also improving our understanding of the outcomes of different prison education types, including English courses, through the Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) programme.

As part of BOLD, there is existing funding to conduct research to explore the relationship between prison education and post-release employment outcomes with findings expected to be published in 2025. All this learning will continue to support our evolving understanding of what more we can do to improve literacy in prisons.

The success of formal literacy education is primarily measured by prisoners ‘achieving’ and getting an accredited qualification; we regularly use this data to ensure good performance. Latest published data (for 2023/24) shows a 5% increase in participation in English functional skills and a 21% increase in prisoner learners who achieved a full in English functional skills, compared to 2022/23.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
21914
Session
2024-26
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Finance Prisons Research Literacy
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk