Your article “Costs could hamper bid to give offenders a better learning deal” (April 10) incorrectly claims that the Youth Justice Board believes the Government is ill-prepared for the reforms put forward in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill to give young people who have offended equal rights to education.

This is not our view and we are working closely with the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Ministry of Justice on the development and implementation of these reforms.

The current arrangements for funding custodial education are complex and accountabilities are not always clear. We are concerned to ensure that the transfer of funding captures the full range of current resources.

We are committed to working with cross-government partners to ensure that the transition to local authorities and the Young People’s Learning Agency is managed effectively and that the new arrangements deliver the expected benefits of a more mainstream service with more straightforward funding and accountability systems.

We have supported the principle of giving responsibility to local authorities throughout the extensive consultation period prior to the decision being made.

John Drew, Chief executive, Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.