Press Release - Meeting needs? The Offenders’ Learning and
Skills Service
7 March 2008
Many of the long standing problems in providing offenders with
effective and useful learning and skills training have yet to be
overcome following the establishment of the Offenders’ Learning and
Skills Service (OLASS). Offenders who find employment upon their
release are less likely to reoffend, which is why improving their
training and skills could contribute to a reduction in crime
levels.
The level of training provision at each prison is based on
historical funding allocations which do not necessarily match
current learning and skills needs. Contracts for providing courses
do not reward outcomes and achievements; and there is insufficient
data on the impact different sorts of training has on employment
and re-offending rates, information which could be used to focus
limited resources more effectively.
Offenders have severe learning and skills needs: half of
offenders in custody have no qualifications and almost 40 per cent
have a reading age beneath that expected of a competent 11 year
old. Addressing this is challenging as offenders are likely to have
negative experiences of education in the past – almost half of
offenders were excluded from school.
These issues impact on getting people to volunteer for courses
from which they would benefit and, in addition, not all offenders
are able to access the learning and skills they need. There are
also problems in getting offenders to complete a course once
started. One of the main reasons for this is the disruption caused
when they transfer between prisons. Training records are often not
transferred with them and differences in the courses being run
reduce the potential for continuity in learning.
The NAO estimates uncompleted courses could be costing the
taxpayer £30 million a year. Offenders who do not complete a course
they begin may get some benefit but will not achieve a
qualification that could demonstrate to a potential employer the
skills acquired.
The primary role of OLASS is to equip offenders with the skills
they need for employment after their release. OLASS provision also
aims to reduce re-offending by improving individuals’ basic and
life skills, increasing their ability to function in society. The
Prison Service also relies on educational pursuits to give
prisoners purposeful activity as part of a secure and orderly
prison regime. These multiple objectives create tensions in
targeting where OLASS resources are spent.
Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, said
today:
"The Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service has made
less progress than it might have done in helping offenders to get
back into work after they are released, one of the most important
factors in reducing reoffending. Some of the fundamentals, which
departments have known about for years, are still not in place –
matters like identifying which courses most help offenders to get a
job, identifying which offenders need which skills, and helping
more of them to finish a course they start. The Departments’ action
plan, to be issued shortly, must make it crystal clear how these
problems will be addressed effectively."
Notes for Editors:
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is at www.nao.org.uk. Hard
copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702
3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Tim Burr, is the head of
the National Audit Office which employs some 850 staff. He and the
NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources. Mr Burr
took up post on 1 February 2008.
Press Notice 16/07
All enquiries to Mark Anderson, NAO Press Office: Tel: 020 7798
7558
Mobile: 07796 937 119