Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many women have left prison without safe accommodation to return to in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Data on settled accommodation for supervised women prison leavers from 2017/18 to 2019/20 is currently recorded and published in the Community Performance Statistics on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics#community-performance-statistics). Data for 2020/21 will be published in July.
To ensure consistent and accurate data recording, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), in collaboration with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) and the Welsh Government, has recently updated the Accommodation Recording Guidance to ensure probation regions have a clear and consistent understanding of the accommodation status definitions, and how to record accurately. The Guidance defines homelessness as where an individual is rough sleeping, squatting, residing in night shelters, emergency hostels or campsites. Individuals with other forms of temporary, short-term or otherwise unstable accommodation are encompassed within the ‘unsettled accommodation’ category in published statistics.
Our Prisons Strategy White Paper sets out our vision that no-one subject to probation supervision is released from prison homeless.
To achieve this, HMPPS launched a new transitional accommodation service providing up to 12 weeks’ accommodation and support for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness. The service was launched last July in five probation areas in England. From 2024-5, we will spend £200m per year to reduce reoffending, including expanding the provision to support the thousands of people across England and Wales who leave prison each year without accommodation. The service takes account of the needs of women with accommodation provision dedicated to single gender usage as required.
DLUHC launched their Accommodation for Ex-Offenders (AFEO) scheme on 28 July 2021 to support offenders at risk of homelessness into private rental tenancies. Overall, this financial year, £13 million has been allocated to 87 schemes across 145 local authorities. Combined with our temporary accommodation service, this builds a pathway from prison to settled accommodation.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to include unsafe, temporary and insecure accommodation within definitions of homelessness when collecting data on women leaving prison.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Data on settled accommodation for supervised women prison leavers from 2017/18 to 2019/20 is currently recorded and published in the Community Performance Statistics on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics#community-performance-statistics). Data for 2020/21 will be published in July.
To ensure consistent and accurate data recording, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), in collaboration with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) and the Welsh Government, has recently updated the Accommodation Recording Guidance to ensure probation regions have a clear and consistent understanding of the accommodation status definitions, and how to record accurately. The Guidance defines homelessness as where an individual is rough sleeping, squatting, residing in night shelters, emergency hostels or campsites. Individuals with other forms of temporary, short-term or otherwise unstable accommodation are encompassed within the ‘unsettled accommodation’ category in published statistics.
Our Prisons Strategy White Paper sets out our vision that no-one subject to probation supervision is released from prison homeless.
To achieve this, HMPPS launched a new transitional accommodation service providing up to 12 weeks’ accommodation and support for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness. The service was launched last July in five probation areas in England. From 2024-5, we will spend £200m per year to reduce reoffending, including expanding the provision to support the thousands of people across England and Wales who leave prison each year without accommodation. The service takes account of the needs of women with accommodation provision dedicated to single gender usage as required.
DLUHC launched their Accommodation for Ex-Offenders (AFEO) scheme on 28 July 2021 to support offenders at risk of homelessness into private rental tenancies. Overall, this financial year, £13 million has been allocated to 87 schemes across 145 local authorities. Combined with our temporary accommodation service, this builds a pathway from prison to settled accommodation.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the contract held by G4S to operate Oakhill Secure Training Centre, following the report published by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission on 21 November, which concluded that the overall functioning of Oakhill Secure Training Centre was inadequate.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Ofsted inspection report on Oakhill Secure Training Centre is completely unacceptable and we have taken urgent action to address the concerns raised by Ofsted. A new interim Director, with extensive experience, has been appointed at Oakhill and an experienced HMPPS Governor has been brought in to provide extra scrutiny.
We are robustly monitoring performance against the contract and are clear that we will take further steps, if needed, to improve delivery.
More widely across the estate, we are investing £64 million to reform youth custody and increase staffing, to improve safety and reduce violence.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to ensure the safety of boys aged 18 and under detained by Feltham Young Offenders Institution following Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons' assessment that "Feltham A is, quite simply, not safe for either staff or boys."
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Safety in prisons and young offender institutions is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and addressing safety concerns is at the heart of our reform plans. We are committed to reforming youth custody so that it is safer for both young people and staff and better equipped to help young people turn their lives around.
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons' inspection took place from 23 January to 3 February 2017. The findings highlighted a need for improvement in the youth custodial estate and we are continuing to take robust action to address the issues identified. At Feltham A, which holds boys aged 15 to 18, we have implemented a range of measures to improve safety including:
starting in July 2017.
In addition, funding has been allocated for the refurbishment of the Enhanced Support Unit for young people with exceptionally complex needs that are unlikely to respond to mainstream services.
We are confident that we are taking proper and considered action in delivering changes to improve safety and outcomes for the young people in our care at HMP Feltham.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
Her Majesty's Government whether the Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint techniques were adapted for use on younger and smaller children, prior to escort custody officers being trained and authorised to use them on children travelling to and from secure training centres and secure children's homes.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) has been specifically developed for use by staff working with children and young people in custody. It has been designed so that physical restraint is avoided as far as possible by recognising young people’s behaviour, and by using a range of de-escalation, diversion and behaviour management techniques to help them deal with it effectively and appropriately. MMPR was initially used in secure training centres, and is now being operationally used by the Youth Justice Board’s secure escort provider, who escort children to and from court, secure training centres, and secure children’s homes.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
Her Majesty's Government what date GeoAmey commenced its contract to run secure escort services for children and young people; what was (1) the value of that contract, and (2) the duration of that contract; and who is responsible within Government for overseeing the delivery of the contract.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
GeoAmey commenced the provision of Secure Escort Services for Children and Young People from 1 July 2016. The annual value of the service is estimated to be in the region of £3.2 - 3.7m according to the volume of services provided. The duration of the provision of the services is 1 July 2016 to 28 August 2018, with options to further extend the contract by three further periods of twelve months. The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is responsible for overseeing the delivery of the contract alongside the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
Her Majesty's Government whether the secure escort services for children and young people contract between the Youth Justice Board and Serco was terminated early; and if so, for what reasons.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Secure Escort Services for Children and Young People (SESCYP) Contract ended early on 30 June 2016. This was mutually agreed between the Ministry of Justice and the contractor, Serco plc.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on HM Prison Hindley describing the regime as "possibly the very worst" that inspectors had ever seen in this type of prison, what action they are taking to (1) reduce the hours during which prisoners are locked up, (2) increase the hours during which prisoners are able to access education, (3) learn the lessons from cases of self-inflicted death, and (4) improve the governance of the deployment of batons against prisoners.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
A detailed action plan is being developed to address the weaknesses identified by the Chief Inspector and will be published in Spring 2017 on the Inspectorate’s web site.
As set out in the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper, this Government will be investing over £100 million to recruit an additional 2,500 frontline staff across the prison estate by the end of 2018. This phased approach is to ensure officers are successfully inducted and can learn from experienced officers. From April 2017, we are giving prison governors the power and budget to determine how their prisons are run and the authority to do their own workforce planning, decide what staffing structures best meet their local needs and deciding how to deploy extra staff in prisons. Governors will also be fully responsible for the education delivered so that they can purchase services most appropriate to their establishment.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the finding in 2014 by the Care Quality Commission that healthcare provision in HM Prison Liverpool was unsafe and the October report by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons on HM Prison Liverpool that improvement in healthcare "had a long way to go", when they expect that prison to provide an acceptable level of healthcare.
Answered by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
Action is currently being taken to address the recommendations made in the inspection report.
That includes working closely with Lancashire Care NHS Trust to improve the healthcare provision, which includes the recruitment of appropriate skilled healthcare professionals and robust data management collection.
The inpatient facility now operates a structured daily regime for in patients and the holistic approach by the multi-disciplinary team which includes service user forums, psychiatric sessions and care plan reviews provides an enhanced care package.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken in response to the October report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons on HM Prison Liverpool that "the prison's daily routine was chaotic and unpredictable" and that 44 per cent of prisoners were locked in their cells during the working day.
Answered by Lord Faulks
HMP Liverpool is committed to implementing the recommendations of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons report of 20 October 2015.
Hours worked in Industry have increased month on month from 57% to 88%. A new activity centre has been opened and provides additional regime places for 100 prisoners. Vulnerable prisoners have been re-allocated to alternative regime places within the prison following the disbanding of B wing. This unit did not have activity places allocated to it. Prison laundry activity places have been allocated to prisoners located on the drug rehabilitation unit providing additional regime places.
Plans to introduce a new Welcome centre which will allocate shorter term prisoners to activity places more quickly, will soon become operational.
Further improvement methods such as electronic prescribing are currently being piloted to improve the efficiency of treatment and medication practices, thereby providing a more consistent regime.