Committee publication · Correspondence · 14 January 2026 · HC 702
Letter to and from Estyn, following the 29 October evidence session on Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation in Wales, dated 1 December 2025 & 5 January 2026
From: Welsh Affairs Committee
Summary
Correspondence between the Welsh Affairs Committee and Estyn (Education and Training Inspectorate for Wales) following a 29 October 2025 evidence session on prisons, probation and rehabilitation in Wales. The Committee asks Estyn three questions about contracting processes for prisoner learning, disadvantaged groups in Wales's devolved system, and barriers to prisoner engagement in skills provision. Estyn's detailed response identifies structural inequalities affecting Welsh women prisoners held in England, inconsistencies for English prisoners in Welsh facilities, and systemic barriers including poor assessment timing, disrupted regimes, and inadequate resettlement planning.
Key findings
- Welsh women prisoners held in English prisons face separation from children, travel costs, language barriers, and continuity-of-care problems; no women's prison exists in Wales despite previously advanced plans for a secure residential centre.
- English prisoners in Welsh prisons experience inconsistent access to careers advice and employment support due to funding mechanisms requiring Welsh home addresses; Welsh qualifications (Agored, Essential Skills Wales) may not transfer value to prisoners released to England.
- Learning and skills contracting shows mixed results: open competition contracts have brought FE college expertise and labour market links, but change in delivery at Parc prison temporarily impacted quality; unclear boundaries between devolved learning/skills and UK justice responsibilities affect digital infrastructure investment.
- Assessment barriers include testing new arrivals within one week of arrival when poorly positioned to perform; lack of transferred records forces prisoners to repeat courses already completed, demotivating learners while allowing prisons to show false progress against KPIs.
- Disrupted prison regimes and part-time purposeful activity in half of adult men's prisons limit curriculum access; short-notice early release policies prevent resettlement preparation and qualification completion; lack of approved premises near families and prisons undermines resettlement effectiveness.
Tone
FactualTopics
Key actors
Ruth Jones MP, Jassa Scott, Estyn, Welsh Affairs Committee, Welsh Government, UK Government, Ministry of Justice, HMPPS
Notable line
“There is not absolute clarity about what is 'learning and skills' and therefore devolved, and what is justice more widely and therefore UK.”
Key Quotes
“There is not absolute clarity about what is 'learning and skills' and therefore devolved, and what is justice more widely and therefore UK.”
“The separation of women from children is the issue most likely to affect their mental health and well-being.”
“Often offenders are tested within a week of arrival when they are not in the best state to undertake any kind of formal educational assessment.”
“This in turn allows prisons to demonstrate positive progress from starting points on these assessments and against KPI but is demotivating for learners forced to repeat literacy and numeracy programmes already completed elsewhere.”
“Disrupted regimes or a part-time offer of purposeful activity in half of adult men's prisons negatively impact these learners' well-being and do not prepare them effectively for life on release.”
“The issues cited above are strongly indicative of a lack of prison-wide vision on the importance of purposeful activity to an offenders' rehabilitation.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗