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Learning and Skills Council

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the estimated cost is of potential redundancies resulting from the current restructuring of the Learning and Skills Council in (a) direct payments to individuals and (b) additional payments into the Principal Civil Service Pension scheme. [66743]

Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is planning to introduce a radical new structure which will enable it to operate more effectively at all levels. As a result of these changes, it is expected that around 1,100 fewer posts will be needed once the new structure is in place. It is estimated that up to £40 million will be saved in management and running costs, which could be redirected to support front-line services.

The LSC is currently in the process of consulting staff and making appointments to posts in the new structure. The final number of staff who leave the LSC as a result of the restructuring will depend to a significant degree on individual circumstances. The LSC is looking for every opportunity to redeploy staff to other suitable positions and has expressed its commitment to maximise the appointments of existing employees and to minimise compulsory redundancies.

The cost of potential redundancies resulting from the restructuring of the LSC depends upon the individual circumstances of each person affected. The current estimate is that the cost of redundancies will be around £32 million.
 
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Prison Education

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to change the process whereby contracting arrangements in prisons education and vocational training are organised separately. [65562]

Phil Hope: Separate arrangements for delivering education and vocational training in prisons come to an end as the Learning and Skills Council becomes responsible for planning and funding offender learning. Education and vocational training is already joined up in the North East, North West and South West, and will become so across England from 31 July 2006.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if she will provide the Learning and Skills Council with the necessary resources to apply its standard funding methodology so that prisons have access to all of the funding streams available to mainstream colleges;

(2) if she will ensure that the additional learning support funding approach is applied to prison education. [65564]

Phil Hope: The Learning and Skills Council is developing a funding methodology for offender learning that aims to replicate as closely as possible that in use for mainstream provision whilst taking into account the costs differences within prisons. The new funding arrangements will ensure that proper regard is paid to the additional learning support needs of offenders, and the Learning and Skills Council will be expected to fund offender learning from within its main Grant from the Department.
 
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John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funds she is providing to ensure that the specialist role of teaching staff in prisons is properly rewarded. [65566]

Phil Hope: There are no separately identifiable funds transferring to the Learning and Skills Council to reward the specialist role of teaching staff in prisons. However, as the Green Paper "Reducing Re-Offending Through Skills and Employment" noted, there are issues to be addressed concerning the offender learning work force. The full engagement of the Learning and Skills Council in offender learning, with the introduction of new providers delivering a new joined-up service is expected to have a significant impact on all aspects of the employment conditions of staff who deliver learning to prisoners integrating it with those of their mainstream colleagues.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of prisoners in 2005 had access to prison education at any one time. [65567]

Phil Hope: All prisoners had access to education in 2005, although not all took up that opportunity.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of prison education inspected by the Adult Learning Inspectorate in 2005 was judged to be inadequate. [65568]

Phil Hope: The proportion of prison education judged to be inadequate by the Adult Learning Inspectorate in 2004–05, as reported in the Annual Report of the Chief Inspector 2004–05 is 55 per cent. The proportion of prison education judged as inadequate on reinspection over the same period is given as 33 per cent.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of prisoners have access to the internet as part of their education or training (a) daily and (b) weekly. [65569]

Phil Hope: This information is not collected centrally.

For security reasons prisons have been cautious about opening up access to e-learning facilities, but the government are keen to make more progress in this area. We are actively investigating ways of providing secure access for prisoners who need it to support their learning activities.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding was allocated to vocational education provision in prisons in 2005–06; what funding has been allocated for 2006–07; and if she will make a statement. [65572]

Phil Hope: Funding for vocational training in prisons in 2005–06 was £8.8 million and is planned to be £8.8 million for 2006–07.

The new LSC-led delivery arrangements aim explicitly to join up the provision of 'education' and Vocational training in prisons, introducing a seamless service that meets holistically the offender's assessed individual learning needs. In many cases, "Skills for Life" will be embedded in work related learning. In this second year of transition from the old arrangements to
 
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the new it is possible to identify separately the funding for vocational training, but that is unlikely to be possible for future years.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she has taken to ensure that closer links are forged between prisons and further education colleges, universities and employers. [65574]

Phil Hope: The new arrangements for Offenders Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) ensures that better links are forged between prisons, further education colleges, universities and employers. OLASS'S approach involves development of different ways of working through new relationships with providers. Regional Partnership Boards provide governance to OLASS and these include representatives from all key stakeholders.

Additionally, we have announced in the December 2005 Green Paper "Reducing Re-Offending Through Skills and Employment" our intention to consult on piloting on a new model for delivery—the "Offender Learning Campus"—to develop new centres of excellence and better links with mainstream education and training, including higher education.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will undertake a review of the different charities working in the prison education sector with a view to identifying the most successful for national recognition, funding and support. [65577]

Fiona Mactaggart: I have been asked to reply.

A recent survey was conducted by the Voluntary Sector Unit of the National Offender Management Unit. This did not focus specifically on organisations engaged in delivering education but these were included among those delivering employment, training and education (ETE). This shows that as of February 2006 there were 583 organisations delivering ETE across the prison and probation services, of which 450 were working with prisons.

Most of these organisations are small and work at a very local level. Funding is already provided to a number of organisations through grants and contracts and it is anticipated that the introduction of full commissioning in NOMS will increase the range of opportunities available to the voluntary and community sector. There are already established recognition schemes such as the Butler Trust which has included awards to organisations providing education services to prisons.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many juvenile prison establishments meet the Youth Justice Board target of 30 hours per week in education and training. [65583]

Fiona Mactaggart: I have been asked to reply.

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) set the young people's secure estate a national average of 25 hours a week education and training provision, rising to 30 when resources become available. Between April 2005 and March 2006, eight young offender institutions (YOI) met the national average and eight did not.
 
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In the 2005–08 service level agreement between the YJB and the Prison Service, each YOI was set an agreed target for the provision of education and training. Between April 2005 and March 2006, five YOIs met their individual target and 11 did not.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the expenditure per head on education in juvenile young offender institutions was in (a) 2001–02, (b) 2002–03, (c) 2003–04, (d) 2004–05 and (e) 2005–06; and what the planned figure is for 2006–07. [65584]

Phil Hope: The expenditure per head on education in juvenile young offender institutions is set out in the following table:

	Expenditure per head (£)
2003–04	6,363
2004–05	7,272
2005–06	8,181

Expenditure in 2001–02 and 2002–03 is not available.

The Department for Education and Skills budget transfer to the Youth Justice Board for 2006–07 has not yet been finally agreed: an estimate of planned expenditure per head on education in juvenile young offender institutions for 2006–07 is not yet available.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what progress has been made in delivering on the commitment to implement a system of individual learning plans for prisoners linked to sentence plans; [65799]

(2) if she will make a statement on progress on introducing a learner-centred system of prison education. [65802]

Phil Hope: The Learning and Skills Council took responsibility for offenders' learning and skills in three development regions (North West, North East and South West) from 1 August 2005, as part of the new Offenders Learning and Skills Service (OLASS). These arrangements will be put in place in the remaining six English regions from 31 July 2006. Under the new Offenders Learning and Skills Service planned and funded by the LSC, contracted providers will be required to assess individual learners' needs, develop a learning plan, and provide the tailored support which addresses these needs.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research has been undertaken by her Department to identify what type of education and training provision will have the greatest impact on meeting the individual learning needs of prisoners and providing them with real alternatives to crime on release. [65804]

Phil Hope: We recently commissioned a systematic review of the empirical evidence into interventions that promote employment for offenders last year. This showed that employment focused interventions, such as vocational training, can make a significant difference to the employment rates of offenders.
 
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John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding would be necessary for the Learning and Skills Council to bridge the gap between education inside and outside prisons; and if she will make a statement. [65561]

Phil Hope: The Government's plans for ensuring continuity of provision of learning and skills for released prisoners were set out in the Green Paper 'Reducing Re-Offending Through Skills and Employment', published in December 2005.

No separate estimate has been made of the costs of bridging the gap between education inside and outside prisons. The new providers being appointed by the Learning and Skills Council are required contractually to deliver the requirements of the Offender's Learning Journey, the document that specifies the service to the offender. That document includes a requirement on the provider to join up learning commenced in custody with that available in the community. The costs of bridging that gap are straightforwardly part of the contract price.

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