Ofsted hit out at Peterborough prison after jail reduces range of courses on offer

Ofsted inspectors have criticised Peterborough’s prison after the number of courses on offer to inmates was reduced.

Prisoners are offered courses while in jail to give them skills to help them get jobs, and reduce the risk of re-offending.

But a monitoring inspection at HMP Peterborough found some courses were no longer being offered – leading to criticism from inspectors.

“Vulnerable prisoners do not have sufficient access to education in order to develop their English and mathematics skills"

In their report, the inspectors said: “Leaders and managers have made slow progress towards establishing an education, skills and work curriculum which better meets the needs of prisoners. Since the previous inspection, four years ago, leaders and managers have identified the major

employment needs in prisoner release destination areas but have yet to reflect these needs in the curriculum.

“Leaders have reduced the construction provision since the previous inspection. The rail safety course which provided prisoners with good access to work placements on release has been discontinued. The proportion of prisoners able to develop catering skills has not increased, although prisoners are now able to receive accreditation for the skills they learn through a recognised qualification.

"Other useful qualifications, such as customer service skills and recycling, which were started following the last inspection, are no longer available. Recently introduced provision has supported the development of prisoners’ media and basic engineering skills, but it is too soon to

judge the impact of these courses on prisoners’ chances of employment on release.”

The report added: “Vulnerable prisoners do not have sufficient access to education in order to develop their English and mathematics skills. A small proportion receive individual outreach support but these prisoners do not benefit from attending group lessons. Too few have achieved qualifications.”

“Teachers and instructors ensure that prisoners are motivated to take part in lessons."

However, inspectors said teaching in the prison was good, saying: “Teachers and instructors ensure that prisoners are motivated to take part in lessons. For example, in personal development lessons, prisoners examine images of nightclub scenes. These stimulate discussions leading to prisoners gaining a better understanding of the dangers and prevention of drug abuse.”

“We recognise there is still work to do.”

An HMP Peterborough spokesperson said: “We welcome the Ofsted monitoring visit report into HMP Peterborough and take on board the feedback the inspectors provided. We are pleased that the inspectors found that two of the three areas had made progress since the previous report. We are also happy that the report recognises leaders and managers at the prison had ensured that teaching and learning across education, skills, and work is of good quality and that prisoners valued the skills and knowledge they had developed.

“We also recognise that there is still work to do. The prison is continuing to review its curriculum to ensure it meets the employment needs of prisoners and local employers. The prison has set up an Employment Advisory Board that works in partnership with local business leaders to understand labour shortages in the areas that prisoners are released to and therefore deliver suitable training to prisoners that will maximise their employment potential on release.”

To read the report, visit https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/36/52320