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Education in Prisons

I shall try to be brief. As always, I begin by declaring an interest as a Crown Court recorder and a part-time district judge.
A few years ago, I visited a young offender institution where I spoke to a young man aged 20. I asked, “What are you doing here?” He replied, “I’m in for four months for driving while disqualified. It’s the second time I’ve been disqualified.” “My goodness”, I said, “Are you a terrible driver?” “No”, he said, “I’m a brilliant driver—I’ve never had an accident.” “Then why are you in here for driving while disqualified?” I asked. “Well,” he said, “ I haven’t got a licence. I’ve never had a licence.” “Why?” I asked; and he replied, “I’ve never passed the theory test, because I can’t read or write.” In a debate such as this, we have no real opportunity for the thoughtful discussions that most Members want about prisons. That is a pity, because there are good ideas on both sides of the House about penal reform, but these debates are set-piece occasions when—perhaps—we do not think quite enough.
I want to say a few words about the subject of education in prisons, on which I have concentrated for several years. My young man could not read or write, so he was in prison. That is a crying shame. I have visited many young offender institutions over the past few years and I try to work out what the young men and women—mostly young men—are doing with their lives. How much time do they spend locked up in their cells? How much time is spent on serious education, and how much time do they have for playing sport? Those are good things in the young offender estate. I am sorry to say that for many years the situation in young offender institutions has been worrying, which is a criticism of us all, in all parties.
I asked in a written question about the steps taken to increase the time spent by young offenders in the youth prison estate outside their cells and on playing team sports and educational activity. The answer was interesting:
“Young people in young offender institution accommodation commissioned by the Youth Justice Board must be given 25 hours learning per week and spend less than 14 hours per day locked in their room”.—[ Official Report, 21 November 2007; Vol. 467, c. 985W.]
We might think that that was clear, but a careful study of what happens in practice illustrates that far too much time is spent locked up.
In July, I asked about the amount of time per day that young offenders spend locked up in their cells. In Reading young offender institution, the average time spent in cells is 17.1 hours a day. The figure for Rochester is 15.7 hours. In many of the young offender institutions, including Castington, people spend more than 15 hours a day locked up in a cell, and in Deerbolt it is 17 hours. That is not good news at all.
What about education? I told the House about the young man who was in prison because he could not pass his theory test. How many hours of education are people getting? They are not getting the 25 hours that they are meant to receive. I asked a question some time ago about the average number of hours spent on education per week. In Aylesbury and Glen Parva, it is only six hours a week. In Reading, it is eight hours a week. That is not long for a young person to spend on proper education at a young persons institution.