A company that took charge of education and training in eight Kent prisons is understood to have terminated its contract a year early in the face of a hefty financial loss.

Private firm A4e won a three-year contract to run Offenders’ Learning and Skills Services (OLASS) in Kent, starting from 2006, and was to work in partnership with the eight prisons to develop tailored education and training for offenders.

The prisons it served were Maidstone, Canterbury, Blantyre House in Goudhurst, East Sutton Park in Maidstone, Rochester, Standford Hill and Elmley in Sheerness, and Swaleside in Sheppey.

But according to the Universities and Colleges Union, A4e has announced it will be unable to run the service for the third year of its contract - August 2008 to July 2009 - because it stands to make a loss of £892,000.

The company has reportedly asked the Learning and Skills Council, which oversees the OLASS programme, for funding assistance but is awaiting a response.

Sally Hunt, UCU General Secretary, said: “Running high-quality prison education and training with professional staff does not come cheap as A4e has found out.

“This sends a strong message to government: bringing in private providers is not the solution to providing good quality public services.”

A4e declined to comment at this time.