Ministers questioned on prison education

• Watch Parliament TV: Prison Education
• Inquiry: Prison Education
• Education Committee

This will be the final evidence session of the cross-party Committee’s inquiry which has delved into issues such as: how education can be embedded across the prison estate; how well prisons accommodate offenders with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND); and the practicalities of delivering apprenticeships in prisons.

In this session, members are likely to ask about the high proportion of prisons deemed by Ofsted to have an ‘inadequate’ educational offering.

The two ministers may be asked to respond to criticisms that the system used by prison leaders for commissioning education providers is too rigid.

Committee members are also likely to ask about how inmates with SEND could be better assessed and provided for, and whether a broader higher-education curriculum could be introduced for offenders across the prison system.

Witnesses 

Tuesday 18 January 2022

At 10am

• Victoria Atkins MP, Minister of State for Prisons, Ministry of Justice
• Phil Copple, Director General of Prisons, Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service
• Alex Burghart MP, Minister for Skills, Department for Education
• Louise Wright, Deputy Director for Apprenticeships, Participation and Traineeships, Department for Education

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

Image: Parliament copyright