Prisons across England and Wales are set to slash frontline spending on education courses by up to 50%, despite promises from Prime Minister Keir Starmer to improve 'access to learning' in last year's general election manifesto. The budget for classroom courses at HMP Leicester will be cut by 46.5%, another men's prison is reducing spending by 25%, and a women's prison is cutting its education provision by 26%, sources have confirmed.
In one prison, there will be a reduction in the number of basic English and maths courses, including cuts to the hours of a specialist teacher who helps illiterate prisoners to read. The Prison Governors' Association (PGA) told the Guardian that most prisons in England and Wales would have their education budgets cut in real terms by at least 5%.
Tom Wheatley, president of the PGA, said: 'These cuts to prison education budgets will have an immediate and direct impact on the ability of governors to provide a meaningful regime and purposeful activity for prisoners.' He warned that the cuts could impede the government's plan to introduce a Texas-style system of good behaviour credits, where prisoners can pass courses to move towards earlier release.
Dame Sally Coates, who conducted a landmark independent review into prison education in 2016, said: 'Prison education is already underfunded and to cut it even more seems a disaster. If we as a country prioritised education and training in prisons, there would be far less reoffending.' The cuts come as the government rolls out new education contracts across prisons, with governors claiming that while the overall education budget has remained the same, the cost of course contracts has soared.
An Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the government had secured investment in new roles, career advice and improvements in digital systems for prisoners, adding: 'This government inherited a prison system in crisis and is working at pace to fix it. This includes changing how prison education works so that it is more effective and so that we also focus resources on building prisoners' vocational skills like construction, retail and hospitality, where there is demand for labour. The national budget for education services has not been reduced.'
