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857752

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Vocational Guidance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	o ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to announce the timetable for arrangements to replace National Careers Service provision in prisons.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	131653
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2018 answer text <p>We will establish a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) to operate alongside the main Prison Education Framework contract which will allow governors to commission specialist providers to complement the main educational provision.</p><p> </p><p>From this autumn, governors will be able to commission careers advice through the DPS, and we believe this will allow governors to shape a coherent service, reflecting the particular needs of their establishment.</p><p> </p><p>We carry out financial and commercial due diligence on potential suppliers as part of the procurement process for any new contracts that will be awarded for careers advice. This is part of the standard approach to due diligence as part of government procurement.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 131662 question first answered 16/03/2018 14:42:46 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

857760

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Vocational Guidance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which services provided by the National Careers Service he plans to replace after the ending of that service's provision in prisons by 1 April 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	131661
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2018 answer text <p>In 2016 a review of prison education by Dame Sally Coates commented on the overlap and duplication within current arrangements for support to prisoners. The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service considered an internal review of National Careers Service (NCS) in custody delivery, which included the views of Governors and learning and skills staff,and identified significant inconsistencies and variations in delivery between prisons making it difficult to be assured that a universal and equitable service was being provided across the estate. The key findings of the review indicated that the National Careers Service in Custody contract was not delivering universal coverage across the estate and there was little time and opportunity to make the contract more responsive if extended for the maximum period of six months.</p><p> </p><p>The current contracts for NCS delivery in custody (which are owned by the Education and Skills Funding Agency) will end on 31st March 2018. The contract could have been extended for a further period of 6 months maximum but such an extension left little time or opportunity to make them more responsive to the needs of people in prison. It may also have led to a further decline in delivery and performance as the contracts wound down and NCS staff sought and secured alternative employment. To avoid this, and to maintain value for money, a decision was taken not to extend the contracts further. The ESFA, under the terms of their contract gave notice to their providers by the end of 2017. Governors were informed via an internal HMPPS communication during the week of 22 January 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Parliamentary interest around this area has been received from Lord Beecham who asked an Urgent Question which was tabled in the Lords on 31 January (asking why the government had cancelled the contract of the National Careers Service) and Lord Bird who is also seeking a meeting with Lord Keen to discuss this issue.</p><p> </p><p>From this autumn, governors will be able to commission Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) through a new Dynamic Purchasing System introduced as part of the education reform arrangements. This will enable governors to shape a coherent service, reflecting the particular needs of their establishment. Until then prison governors will continue to have access to a range of existing providers for IAG advice such as DWP Prison Job Coaches, education staff (under the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) arrangements) and Community Rehabilitation Company staff. Also, in line with giving greater empowerment to prison governors, they may use their budgets to fill any priority gaps locally. Due to the range of available current (and future) delivery there is no requirement for governors to seek to employ NCS staff.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to work collaboratively with a range of partners to facilitate distance learning courses for prisoners. Opportunities for such study will still be available from the Open University (OU) and from the Prisoners Education Trust ‘Steps to Success Scheme’. Additional learner support is also available under the OLASS arrangements and from the Virtual Campus (VC) e-learning platform that includes a number of career planning tools and OU courses, enabling prisoners to receive a similar learning experience to that of their mainstream peers.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested in relation to the number of FTE NCS staff working in prisons, NCS provider referrals of prisoners during 2017 and colleges and universities that NCS providers have referred prisoners to during 2017 is not collected by the Department.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 131647 131648 131649 131650 131651 131652 131654 131655 131656 131657 131658 131659 131660 question first answered 16/03/2018 14:48:53 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

857748

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Vocational Guidance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether prison governors are able to employ National Careers Service staff.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	131649
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2018 answer text <p>In 2016 a review of prison education by Dame Sally Coates commented on the overlap and duplication within current arrangements for support to prisoners. The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service considered an internal review of National Careers Service (NCS) in custody delivery, which included the views of Governors and learning and skills staff,and identified significant inconsistencies and variations in delivery between prisons making it difficult to be assured that a universal and equitable service was being provided across the estate. The key findings of the review indicated that the National Careers Service in Custody contract was not delivering universal coverage across the estate and there was little time and opportunity to make the contract more responsive if extended for the maximum period of six months.</p><p> </p><p>The current contracts for NCS delivery in custody (which are owned by the Education and Skills Funding Agency) will end on 31st March 2018. The contract could have been extended for a further period of 6 months maximum but such an extension left little time or opportunity to make them more responsive to the needs of people in prison. It may also have led to a further decline in delivery and performance as the contracts wound down and NCS staff sought and secured alternative employment. To avoid this, and to maintain value for money, a decision was taken not to extend the contracts further. The ESFA, under the terms of their contract gave notice to their providers by the end of 2017. Governors were informed via an internal HMPPS communication during the week of 22 January 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Parliamentary interest around this area has been received from Lord Beecham who asked an Urgent Question which was tabled in the Lords on 31 January (asking why the government had cancelled the contract of the National Careers Service) and Lord Bird who is also seeking a meeting with Lord Keen to discuss this issue.</p><p> </p><p>From this autumn, governors will be able to commission Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) through a new Dynamic Purchasing System introduced as part of the education reform arrangements. This will enable governors to shape a coherent service, reflecting the particular needs of their establishment. Until then prison governors will continue to have access to a range of existing providers for IAG advice such as DWP Prison Job Coaches, education staff (under the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) arrangements) and Community Rehabilitation Company staff. Also, in line with giving greater empowerment to prison governors, they may use their budgets to fill any priority gaps locally. Due to the range of available current (and future) delivery there is no requirement for governors to seek to employ NCS staff.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to work collaboratively with a range of partners to facilitate distance learning courses for prisoners. Opportunities for such study will still be available from the Open University (OU) and from the Prisoners Education Trust ‘Steps to Success Scheme’. Additional learner support is also available under the OLASS arrangements and from the Virtual Campus (VC) e-learning platform that includes a number of career planning tools and OU courses, enabling prisoners to receive a similar learning experience to that of their mainstream peers.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested in relation to the number of FTE NCS staff working in prisons, NCS provider referrals of prisoners during 2017 and colleges and universities that NCS providers have referred prisoners to during 2017 is not collected by the Department.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 131647 131648 131650 131651 131652 131654 131655 131656 131657 131658 131659 131660 131661 question first answered 16/03/2018 14:48:52 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

857753

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Vocational Guidance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department carried out an impact assessment on the decision to end National Careers Service provision in prisons.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	131654
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2018 answer text <p>In 2016 a review of prison education by Dame Sally Coates commented on the overlap and duplication within current arrangements for support to prisoners. The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service considered an internal review of National Careers Service (NCS) in custody delivery, which included the views of Governors and learning and skills staff,and identified significant inconsistencies and variations in delivery between prisons making it difficult to be assured that a universal and equitable service was being provided across the estate. The key findings of the review indicated that the National Careers Service in Custody contract was not delivering universal coverage across the estate and there was little time and opportunity to make the contract more responsive if extended for the maximum period of six months.</p><p> </p><p>The current contracts for NCS delivery in custody (which are owned by the Education and Skills Funding Agency) will end on 31st March 2018. The contract could have been extended for a further period of 6 months maximum but such an extension left little time or opportunity to make them more responsive to the needs of people in prison. It may also have led to a further decline in delivery and performance as the contracts wound down and NCS staff sought and secured alternative employment. To avoid this, and to maintain value for money, a decision was taken not to extend the contracts further. The ESFA, under the terms of their contract gave notice to their providers by the end of 2017. Governors were informed via an internal HMPPS communication during the week of 22 January 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Parliamentary interest around this area has been received from Lord Beecham who asked an Urgent Question which was tabled in the Lords on 31 January (asking why the government had cancelled the contract of the National Careers Service) and Lord Bird who is also seeking a meeting with Lord Keen to discuss this issue.</p><p> </p><p>From this autumn, governors will be able to commission Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) through a new Dynamic Purchasing System introduced as part of the education reform arrangements. This will enable governors to shape a coherent service, reflecting the particular needs of their establishment. Until then prison governors will continue to have access to a range of existing providers for IAG advice such as DWP Prison Job Coaches, education staff (under the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) arrangements) and Community Rehabilitation Company staff. Also, in line with giving greater empowerment to prison governors, they may use their budgets to fill any priority gaps locally. Due to the range of available current (and future) delivery there is no requirement for governors to seek to employ NCS staff.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to work collaboratively with a range of partners to facilitate distance learning courses for prisoners. Opportunities for such study will still be available from the Open University (OU) and from the Prisoners Education Trust ‘Steps to Success Scheme’. Additional learner support is also available under the OLASS arrangements and from the Virtual Campus (VC) e-learning platform that includes a number of career planning tools and OU courses, enabling prisoners to receive a similar learning experience to that of their mainstream peers.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested in relation to the number of FTE NCS staff working in prisons, NCS provider referrals of prisoners during 2017 and colleges and universities that NCS providers have referred prisoners to during 2017 is not collected by the Department.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 131647 131648 131649 131650 131651 131652 131655 131656 131657 131658 131659 131660 131661 question first answered 16/03/2018 14:48:52 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

857749

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Vocational Guidance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when prison governors were informed of the decision to end National Careers Service provision in prisons.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	131650
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2018 answer text <p>In 2016 a review of prison education by Dame Sally Coates commented on the overlap and duplication within current arrangements for support to prisoners. The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service considered an internal review of National Careers Service (NCS) in custody delivery, which included the views of Governors and learning and skills staff,and identified significant inconsistencies and variations in delivery between prisons making it difficult to be assured that a universal and equitable service was being provided across the estate. The key findings of the review indicated that the National Careers Service in Custody contract was not delivering universal coverage across the estate and there was little time and opportunity to make the contract more responsive if extended for the maximum period of six months.</p><p> </p><p>The current contracts for NCS delivery in custody (which are owned by the Education and Skills Funding Agency) will end on 31st March 2018. The contract could have been extended for a further period of 6 months maximum but such an extension left little time or opportunity to make them more responsive to the needs of people in prison. It may also have led to a further decline in delivery and performance as the contracts wound down and NCS staff sought and secured alternative employment. To avoid this, and to maintain value for money, a decision was taken not to extend the contracts further. The ESFA, under the terms of their contract gave notice to their providers by the end of 2017. Governors were informed via an internal HMPPS communication during the week of 22 January 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Parliamentary interest around this area has been received from Lord Beecham who asked an Urgent Question which was tabled in the Lords on 31 January (asking why the government had cancelled the contract of the National Careers Service) and Lord Bird who is also seeking a meeting with Lord Keen to discuss this issue.</p><p> </p><p>From this autumn, governors will be able to commission Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) through a new Dynamic Purchasing System introduced as part of the education reform arrangements. This will enable governors to shape a coherent service, reflecting the particular needs of their establishment. Until then prison governors will continue to have access to a range of existing providers for IAG advice such as DWP Prison Job Coaches, education staff (under the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) arrangements) and Community Rehabilitation Company staff. Also, in line with giving greater empowerment to prison governors, they may use their budgets to fill any priority gaps locally. Due to the range of available current (and future) delivery there is no requirement for governors to seek to employ NCS staff.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to work collaboratively with a range of partners to facilitate distance learning courses for prisoners. Opportunities for such study will still be available from the Open University (OU) and from the Prisoners Education Trust ‘Steps to Success Scheme’. Additional learner support is also available under the OLASS arrangements and from the Virtual Campus (VC) e-learning platform that includes a number of career planning tools and OU courses, enabling prisoners to receive a similar learning experience to that of their mainstream peers.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested in relation to the number of FTE NCS staff working in prisons, NCS provider referrals of prisoners during 2017 and colleges and universities that NCS providers have referred prisoners to during 2017 is not collected by the Department.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 131647 131648 131649 131651 131652 131654 131655 131656 131657 131658 131659 131660 131661 question first answered 16/03/2018 14:48:52 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

857747

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Vocational Guidance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the time-scale is for prison governors to be able to commission careers services.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	131648
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2018 answer text <p>In 2016 a review of prison education by Dame Sally Coates commented on the overlap and duplication within current arrangements for support to prisoners. The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service considered an internal review of National Careers Service (NCS) in custody delivery, which included the views of Governors and learning and skills staff,and identified significant inconsistencies and variations in delivery between prisons making it difficult to be assured that a universal and equitable service was being provided across the estate. The key findings of the review indicated that the National Careers Service in Custody contract was not delivering universal coverage across the estate and there was little time and opportunity to make the contract more responsive if extended for the maximum period of six months.</p><p> </p><p>The current contracts for NCS delivery in custody (which are owned by the Education and Skills Funding Agency) will end on 31st March 2018. The contract could have been extended for a further period of 6 months maximum but such an extension left little time or opportunity to make them more responsive to the needs of people in prison. It may also have led to a further decline in delivery and performance as the contracts wound down and NCS staff sought and secured alternative employment. To avoid this, and to maintain value for money, a decision was taken not to extend the contracts further. The ESFA, under the terms of their contract gave notice to their providers by the end of 2017. Governors were informed via an internal HMPPS communication during the week of 22 January 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Parliamentary interest around this area has been received from Lord Beecham who asked an Urgent Question which was tabled in the Lords on 31 January (asking why the government had cancelled the contract of the National Careers Service) and Lord Bird who is also seeking a meeting with Lord Keen to discuss this issue.</p><p> </p><p>From this autumn, governors will be able to commission Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) through a new Dynamic Purchasing System introduced as part of the education reform arrangements. This will enable governors to shape a coherent service, reflecting the particular needs of their establishment. Until then prison governors will continue to have access to a range of existing providers for IAG advice such as DWP Prison Job Coaches, education staff (under the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) arrangements) and Community Rehabilitation Company staff. Also, in line with giving greater empowerment to prison governors, they may use their budgets to fill any priority gaps locally. Due to the range of available current (and future) delivery there is no requirement for governors to seek to employ NCS staff.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to work collaboratively with a range of partners to facilitate distance learning courses for prisoners. Opportunities for such study will still be available from the Open University (OU) and from the Prisoners Education Trust ‘Steps to Success Scheme’. Additional learner support is also available under the OLASS arrangements and from the Virtual Campus (VC) e-learning platform that includes a number of career planning tools and OU courses, enabling prisoners to receive a similar learning experience to that of their mainstream peers.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested in relation to the number of FTE NCS staff working in prisons, NCS provider referrals of prisoners during 2017 and colleges and universities that NCS providers have referred prisoners to during 2017 is not collected by the Department.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 131647 131649 131650 131651 131652 131654 131655 131656 131657 131658 131659 131660 131661 question first answered 16/03/2018 14:48:52 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

857837

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners' Release
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is after the issue date of the judgment for prisoners who have been granted release to directed premises by Parole Boards (a) being found suitable premises and (b) being released from prison in the most recent period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	131737
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/03/2018 answer text <p>The information requested could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Case management systems cannot readily distinguish between releases that are made to “directed” premises and those that are not. 2017 saw the release of over 2100 prisoners who were serving indeterminate or determinate parole eligible sentences. To obtain the requested information would require a manual check of all records for the prisoners directed to be released in this period.</p><p> </p><p>Where the release plan of a prisoner requires accommodation in National Probation Service approved premises then the prisoner cannot be released until a place in those premises becomes available, allowing the prisoner to be safely released. Where possible, HMPPS aim to release prisoners within 14 days of receipt of the Parole Board’s decision.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 13/03/2018 17:41:20 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

857745

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Contracts
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) names of providers and (b) value of each of the bids was of tenders submitted for (a) lot 1, (b) lot 2, (c) lot 3 and (d) lot 4 for the prison facilities management contracts awarded in 2014.
	tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
	tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
	uin	131646
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/03/2018 answer text <p>The names of providers who submitted tenders are as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Lot 1</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Lot 2</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Lot 3</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Lot 4</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Regions</strong></p></td><td><p>North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humberside</p></td><td><p>East Midlands, West Midlands, Wales</p></td><td><p>East of England, London</p></td><td><p>South West, South Central, Kent and Sussex</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Successful bidder</p></td><td><p>Amey</p></td><td><p>Amey</p></td><td><p>Carillion</p></td><td><p>Carillion</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Unsuccessful bidders</p></td><td><p>Mitie, Sodexo, Carillion</p></td><td><p>Mitie, Sodexo, Carillion</p></td><td><p>Mitie, Sodexo, Amey</p></td><td><p>Mitie, Sodexo, Amey</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>All Tender prices were entered into a permutation table which calculated the most economically advantageous submission for each Package Order or combination of Package Orders. The most economically advantageous permutation of tenders are as follows:</p><p> </p><p>Package Order E: £117,861,047 (Amey)</p><p>Package Order F: £ 93,429,773 (Amey)</p><p>Package Order G: £ 98,790,002 (Carillion)</p><p>Package Order H: £ 100,195,572 (Carillion)</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not publish the value of unsuccessful bidders due to commercial sensitivity.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 13/03/2018 17:43:26 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer

857757

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Vocational Guidance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that careers advice services in prisons after 1 April 2018 maintain relationships with employers and educational institutions established under the National Careers Service.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	131658
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2018 answer text <p>In 2016 a review of prison education by Dame Sally Coates commented on the overlap and duplication within current arrangements for support to prisoners. The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service considered an internal review of National Careers Service (NCS) in custody delivery, which included the views of Governors and learning and skills staff,and identified significant inconsistencies and variations in delivery between prisons making it difficult to be assured that a universal and equitable service was being provided across the estate. The key findings of the review indicated that the National Careers Service in Custody contract was not delivering universal coverage across the estate and there was little time and opportunity to make the contract more responsive if extended for the maximum period of six months.</p><p> </p><p>The current contracts for NCS delivery in custody (which are owned by the Education and Skills Funding Agency) will end on 31st March 2018. The contract could have been extended for a further period of 6 months maximum but such an extension left little time or opportunity to make them more responsive to the needs of people in prison. It may also have led to a further decline in delivery and performance as the contracts wound down and NCS staff sought and secured alternative employment. To avoid this, and to maintain value for money, a decision was taken not to extend the contracts further. The ESFA, under the terms of their contract gave notice to their providers by the end of 2017. Governors were informed via an internal HMPPS communication during the week of 22 January 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Parliamentary interest around this area has been received from Lord Beecham who asked an Urgent Question which was tabled in the Lords on 31 January (asking why the government had cancelled the contract of the National Careers Service) and Lord Bird who is also seeking a meeting with Lord Keen to discuss this issue.</p><p> </p><p>From this autumn, governors will be able to commission Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) through a new Dynamic Purchasing System introduced as part of the education reform arrangements. This will enable governors to shape a coherent service, reflecting the particular needs of their establishment. Until then prison governors will continue to have access to a range of existing providers for IAG advice such as DWP Prison Job Coaches, education staff (under the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) arrangements) and Community Rehabilitation Company staff. Also, in line with giving greater empowerment to prison governors, they may use their budgets to fill any priority gaps locally. Due to the range of available current (and future) delivery there is no requirement for governors to seek to employ NCS staff.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to work collaboratively with a range of partners to facilitate distance learning courses for prisoners. Opportunities for such study will still be available from the Open University (OU) and from the Prisoners Education Trust ‘Steps to Success Scheme’. Additional learner support is also available under the OLASS arrangements and from the Virtual Campus (VC) e-learning platform that includes a number of career planning tools and OU courses, enabling prisoners to receive a similar learning experience to that of their mainstream peers.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested in relation to the number of FTE NCS staff working in prisons, NCS provider referrals of prisoners during 2017 and colleges and universities that NCS providers have referred prisoners to during 2017 is not collected by the Department.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 131647 131648 131649 131650 131651 131652 131654 131655 131656 131657 131659 131660 131661 question first answered 16/03/2018 14:48:52 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

857761

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Vocational Guidance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to ensure that careers advice provision contracts from the period beginning 1 April 2018 are not awarded to companies at risk of failure.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	131662
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2018 answer text <p>We will establish a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) to operate alongside the main Prison Education Framework contract which will allow governors to commission specialist providers to complement the main educational provision.</p><p> </p><p>From this autumn, governors will be able to commission careers advice through the DPS, and we believe this will allow governors to shape a coherent service, reflecting the particular needs of their establishment.</p><p> </p><p>We carry out financial and commercial due diligence on potential suppliers as part of the procurement process for any new contracts that will be awarded for careers advice. This is part of the standard approach to due diligence as part of government procurement.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 131653 question first answered 16/03/2018 14:42:46 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain