Speeches by Sewards.

“Thank you, Chair. Lee, you have already mentioned the figure of 86% of all inspections—was that within five years?”

“That is just over the last year. Something like 87% of all inspections over the last five years have been inadequate or requires improvement, so the state of prison education is not good. What needs to be done to improve it?”

“Before I move on to ask the other panel members, is there a core or central reason that keeps coming up as to why so many provisions are being declared inadequate?”

“That is interesting. You would say it is about the leadership of the prisons as opposed to the safeguarding. I was a maths teacher in another life, and often safeguarding in schools is the No. 1 reason that they tend to become inadequate; but when it comes to prisons, it is actually leadership and management.”

“To the other panel members, in your view, what are the barriers to the take-up of prison education by prisoners? What is stopping people who want to take up education in prisons from doing so?”

“Victoria, do you have anything to add about what would stop prisoners from taking up education right now?”

“Have you seen any best practice at all that you think could be applied to organisations where it is not working?”

“Thank you for your answer.”

“I am the MP for Leeds South West and Morley. I am a former maths teacher, and all my interests are declared on the website.”

“Tessa has already teased out quite a lot of the information that I was going to ask about, but I wanted to ask you about the level of need across prisons. Of course, Annick, you have already set out what the percentages are for the prisons that you work with. My question would be then to Jon and Michala: does that matc…”

“Thank you, Chair. Lee, you have already mentioned the figure of 86% of all inspections—was that within five years?”

“That is just over the last year. Something like 87% of all inspections over the last five years have been inadequate or requires improvement, so the state of prison education is not good. What needs to be done to improve it?”

“Before I move on to ask the other panel members, is there a core or central reason that keeps coming up as to why so many provisions are being declared inadequate?”

“That is interesting. You would say it is about the leadership of the prisons as opposed to the safeguarding. I was a maths teacher in another life, and often safeguarding in schools is the No. 1 reason that they tend to become inadequate; but when it comes to prisons, it is actually leadership and management.”

“To the other panel members, in your view, what are the barriers to the take-up of prison education by prisoners? What is stopping people who want to take up education in prisons from doing so?”

“Victoria, do you have anything to add about what would stop prisoners from taking up education right now?”

“Have you seen any best practice at all that you think could be applied to organisations where it is not working?”

“Thank you for your answer.”

“10. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement the Government’s plan for change.”

“I thank the Minister for that answer. I was proud to vote for the £22.6 billion increase in NHS spending, which means that we are getting 2 million more appointments seven months early and that waiting lists are coming down. Of course, there is still a long way to go and the British public deserve to know that every pe…”