---

Prisons: Education

Answer

To provide figures that show education budgets broken down by men’s and women’s prisons over the period requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The budget encompasses various different services which are managed in different ways and are not all apportioned on a per-prison level.

Figures for the budget across both men and women’s prisons are shown in the table below. This only covers education, it does not cover broader skills training and employment work, for example that is delivered through prison industries and workshops.

Financial Year	Total Education Budget for Male and Female estate in millions
2021/22	£146.8
2022/23	£153.2
2023/24	£166.2
2024/25	£170.4
2025/26	£176.3

Budgets for locally commissioned services are allocated to individual prisons based on size of population, type of establishment and geographic area. Other services are commissioned nationally, such as Higher Education provision through the Open University and Distance Learning through the Prisoners’ Education Trust. We are focusing on improving attendance and driving up quality to ensure that every pound spent has greater impact on learners.

Both contracts through which core education was delivered during the period allocated a greater per-prisoner amount to women's prisons.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

HL925

Session

2026-27

Subjects

Education Finance Prisons

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk