Prisons across the country are slashing education funding. According to the Guardian, public money for prison education courses is being reduced by almost 50 per cent. As a result, basic English and maths courses are being scrapped. This appears to breach Labour’s 2024 manifesto commitment, in which they promised to ‘work with prisons to improve offenders’ access to purposeful activity, such as learning’.

If the government hopes to save the justice system from collapse, then it needs to bring down reoffending. The Sentencing Bill and the coming reforms to the court system will significantly reduce the use of imprisonment, and Labour hope that jails and probation will be able to help more offenders reform. Cutting prison education budgets runs directly counter to that goal.

Learning in prison matters because we know that good prison education reduces the chance that an inmate will reoffend after release. Education, qualifications and skills make it easier to get a job, earn an honest wage and stay out of trouble. Basic skills teaching is particularly important, with around 60 per cent of prisoners having a reading age below that expected of an 11-year-old.........

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