07 March 2008
Training courses provided for prisoners that are not completed are costing the taxpayer £30m a year, according to a National Audit Office report.
The NAO is critical of the Offenders' Learning and Skills Service which provides offenders with training.
The report, published on March 7, showed there were numerous problems getting offenders to complete courses once they had started them. One of the main reasons for this was the disruption caused when prisoners moved between different institutions.
Training records were often not transferred with offenders and differences between the courses reduced the potential for the continuation of learning, it said.
The report also found that the level of training provision was based on historical funding allocations which may not match current need.
It said that contracts for providing courses did not reward outcomes and achievements by prisoners, and there was insufficient data on the impact different sorts of training had on employment and re-offending rates.
The head of the National Audit Office, Tim Burr, said: 'The Offenders' Learning and Skills Service has made less progress than it might have done in helping offenders to get back to work after they are released, one of the most important factors in reducing reoffending.'
He added: '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.'
PFmar2008
