The Guardian has reported that A4e has announced it will prematurely end its £17 million contract to deliver education and training to 12 London prisons, saying that the contract was not operating at a profit. The contract was originally due to end in July 2016, with another contract in the East of England continuing normally. The official announcement cited “a number of constraints” which had “a heavy impact on learner attendance, completion and achievements”, as making the delivery of the contract “extremely challenging”, which has been interpreted by prison charities as insufficient access by prisoners to the lessons due to staff shortages. A4e had previously terminated another prisoner education contract in Kent in 2008.
