Responsibility for offender learning and skills across England has been passed to the Learning and Skills Council
‘Alongside the annual £130 million funding from the Department for Education and Skills and the Youth Justice Board, the LSC has secured an additional £30 million, over three years, from the European Social Fund. The LSC will manage planning, funding and delivery of the new integrated offenders’ learning and skills service (OLASS) from today [31st July 2006]across all nine English regions. Three development regions, the North West, North East and South West, rolled out the service last year and have been successfully piloting the new approach.
By integrating offender education within mainstream academic and vocational provision and ensuring offenders experience seamless provision in both custodial and community settings, the LSC hopes to contribute to breaking the cycle of failure that drives re-offending. The new service aims to help to drive down the reoffending rate by ten per cent by 2010.’
To read the full Press release, visit the LSC website.
