Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

857727

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	Prison Officers: Termination of Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who had a prison officer grade were (a) dismissed and (b) resigned in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Delyn
tabling member printed	David Hanson
uin	131628
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2018 answer text <p>The number of band 3-5 prison officers who have resigned or have been dismissed in each year since 2010 can be found in table 11b in the latest HMPPS workforce statistics publication at the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/her-majestys-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-december-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/her-majestys-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-december-2017</a></p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 16/03/2018 14:38:50 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

857746

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, how many FTE National Careers Service staff were working in prisons at (a) 1 March 2016, (b) 1 March 2017 and (c) 1 March 2018.
tabling member constituency	Bradford East
tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
uin	131647
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 131648 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

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

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

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

857750

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 provision his Department is making to enable continued support for prisoners in applying for funds for distance learning and to support them with their courses as a result of the ending National Careers Service provision in prisons.
tabling member constituency	Bradford East
tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
uin	131651
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 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

857751

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 assessment the Government made of the potential merits of extending National Careers Service provision in those prisons where that service was effective.
tabling member constituency	Bradford East
tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
uin	131652
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 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

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

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

857754

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 representations he has received on the decision to end National Careers Service provision in prisons.
tabling member constituency	Bradford East
tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
uin	131655
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 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