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Prison Education

Volume 450: debated on Thursday 26 October 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to measure education, training or employment outcomes for released prisoners. (65807)

I have been asked to reply.

Information on the education, training or employment (ETE) status of each prisoner due for release is recorded on the Prison Service’s PSimon database for KPI monitoring.

The following table shows an increase of 9 per cent. in prisons’ compliance with recording over the past three years, along with a 23 per cent. rise in ETE outcomes. ETE outcomes also include those who attended FRESHSTART appointments at Jobcentre Plus. FRESHSTART is the initiative whereby prisoners who do not have a job or training place to go to on release are linked into employment, training and benefits advice and support immediately after release.

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

Discharges

86,353

87,449

85,685

Information Recorded

77,188

82,650

83,991

Information Recorded (percentage of Discharges)

89

95

98

ETE outcomes (inc. FRESHSTART )

21,327

33,946

41,146

ETE outcomes (inc. FRESHSTART ) as percentage of total discharges

25

39

48