The Ministry of Justice has awarded the new contracts for education provision across the adult public prison estate in England.
The new Prisoner Education Services (PES) contracts will replace the current Prison Education Framework (PEF) contracts in the autumn.
They are broadly similar in structure. Under the current contracts, there are 17 lots altogether – 14 based on regions, two for the long-term estate and one for women’s prisons in northern England. The new contracts split the country into 11 regional lots, with an outsourced specialist provider given a contract to provide education in the prisons in that area.
The contracts will be managed nationally by the Ministry of Justice and provision will focus on literacy and numeracy, as is currently the case.
There will be three contractors across the 11 lots: LTE Group (Novus) has been awarded four lots; Milton Keynes College, three; and PeoplePlus Group Ltd, three. They are all existing providers but there will be changes to providers in some prisons due to the lot restructuring.
The contractors for each lot will be:
- Lot 1 – Avon and South Dorset and Devon and North Dorset – Milton Keynes College
- Lot 2 – Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk – PeoplePlus Group Ltd
- Lot 3 – Cumbria and Lancashire – LTE Group (Novus)
- Lot 4 – Tees and Wear – LTE Group (Novus)
- Lot 5 – East Midlands Group and North Midlands – PeoplePlus Group Ltd
- Lot 6 – Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire – LTE Group (Novus)
- Lot 7 – Kent, Surrey and Sussex – Milton Keynes College
- Lot 8 – London Group – PeoplePlus Group Ltd
- Lot 9 – South Central – Milton Keynes College
- Lot 10 – West Midlands – No award
- Lot 11 – Yorkshire – LTE Group (Novus)
We will monitor the impact of these changes, as well as the next steps for the West Midlands lot for which no award was made.
In the meantime, you can read our briefing which sets out 10 recommendations to the Ministry of Justice to transform prison education, including how to make sure the new contracts are fit for purpose.
Donate to our Summer Appeal and help people in prison find hope, drive and recovery through education.