Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government who was the contracted provider of each prison that has either transferred back to the public sector control having been privately contracted, or closed having been privately contracted, since 2000; what were the contractual start dates; and what were the contractual expiry dates.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The key contractual dates for the current privately-operated prisons are set out in the table below.
Prison | Operator | Current contract dates | Previous operator | Previous contract dates |
Altcourse | Sodexo | 01/06/2023 to 32/05/2033 | G4S | 01/12/1997 to 31/05/2023 |
Ashfield | Serco | 01/11/2024 to 31/10/2034 | Serco | 01/11/1999 to 31/10/2024 |
Bronzefield | Sodexo | 17/06/2004 to 16/06/2029 | N/A | N/A |
Doncaster | Serco | 01/10/2011 to 30/9/2026 | Serco | Not known – this was a Home Office contract |
Dovegate | Serco | 09/07/2001 to 08/07/2026 | N/A | N/A |
Five Wells | G4S | 04/02/2022 to 03/02/2032 | N/A | N/A |
Fosse Way | Serco | 29/05/2023 to 28/05/2033 | N/A | N/A |
Forest Bank | Sodexo | 20/01/2000 to 19/01/2025 | N/A | N/A |
Northumberland | Sodexo | 01/12/2013 to 30/11/2028 | HMPPS | N/A |
Oakwood | G4S | 24/04/2012 to 23/04/2027 | N/A | N/A |
Parc | G4S | 15/12/1997 to 14/12/2022 | G4S | 15/12/2022 to 14/12/2032 |
Peterborough (female) | Sodexo | 28/03/2005 to 27/03/2030 | N/A | N/A |
Peterborough (male) | Sodexo | 28/03/2005 to 27/03/2030 | N/A | N/A |
Rye Hill | G4S | 21/10/2001 to 20/10/2026 | N/A | N/A |
Thameside | Serco | 01/06/2012 to 31/12/2036 | N/A | N/A |
*Inherited from the Home Office
The key contractual dates for prisons that were previously privately-operated are set out in the table below.
Prison | Operator | Contract dates | Date transitioned back to PSP | Reason for return to PSP/closure |
Birmingham | G4S | 01/10/2011 to 30/09/2026 | 30/06/2019 | Step in by public sector. |
Lowdham Grange | Sodexo Serco | 16/02/2023 to 15/02/2033 16/02/1998 to 16/02/2023 | 01/08/2024 | Step in by public sector. |
Wolds | G4S | July 1991 to July 2013 | July 2013 | Outcome of competition |
Buckley Hall | Group 4 | 1994 to 2001 | 2001 | Outcome of Competition |
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government who is the contracted provider for each current private sector prison; when were the contractual start dates; when are the contractual expiry dates; and where the contracted provider has changed, who was the previous contracted provider and what was the start date and end date of that provider.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The key contractual dates for the current privately-operated prisons are set out in the table below.
Prison | Operator | Current contract dates | Previous operator | Previous contract dates |
Altcourse | Sodexo | 01/06/2023 to 32/05/2033 | G4S | 01/12/1997 to 31/05/2023 |
Ashfield | Serco | 01/11/2024 to 31/10/2034 | Serco | 01/11/1999 to 31/10/2024 |
Bronzefield | Sodexo | 17/06/2004 to 16/06/2029 | N/A | N/A |
Doncaster | Serco | 01/10/2011 to 30/9/2026 | Serco | Not known – this was a Home Office contract |
Dovegate | Serco | 09/07/2001 to 08/07/2026 | N/A | N/A |
Five Wells | G4S | 04/02/2022 to 03/02/2032 | N/A | N/A |
Fosse Way | Serco | 29/05/2023 to 28/05/2033 | N/A | N/A |
Forest Bank | Sodexo | 20/01/2000 to 19/01/2025 | N/A | N/A |
Northumberland | Sodexo | 01/12/2013 to 30/11/2028 | HMPPS | N/A |
Oakwood | G4S | 24/04/2012 to 23/04/2027 | N/A | N/A |
Parc | G4S | 15/12/1997 to 14/12/2022 | G4S | 15/12/2022 to 14/12/2032 |
Peterborough (female) | Sodexo | 28/03/2005 to 27/03/2030 | N/A | N/A |
Peterborough (male) | Sodexo | 28/03/2005 to 27/03/2030 | N/A | N/A |
Rye Hill | G4S | 21/10/2001 to 20/10/2026 | N/A | N/A |
Thameside | Serco | 01/06/2012 to 31/12/2036 | N/A | N/A |
*Inherited from the Home Office
The key contractual dates for prisons that were previously privately-operated are set out in the table below.
Prison | Operator | Contract dates | Date transitioned back to PSP | Reason for return to PSP/closure |
Birmingham | G4S | 01/10/2011 to 30/09/2026 | 30/06/2019 | Step in by public sector. |
Lowdham Grange | Sodexo Serco | 16/02/2023 to 15/02/2033 16/02/1998 to 16/02/2023 | 01/08/2024 | Step in by public sector. |
Wolds | G4S | July 1991 to July 2013 | July 2013 | Outcome of competition |
Buckley Hall | Group 4 | 1994 to 2001 | 2001 | Outcome of Competition |
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the names of the current healthcare providers for each prison in England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Due to the size of the data, a table showing the names of the current healthcare providers for each prison in England is attached. This does not include providers sub-contracted to provide services for substance use, neurodiversity, mental health, or dental, amongst other services.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government on how many occasions pelargonic acid vanillylamide (PAVA) incapacitant spray has been (1) drawn, or (2) drawn and deployed, in prisons in 2022 and 2023; and what was the (a) ethnicity, (b) religion, and (c) disability status, of the prisoner involved.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information, by prisoner ethnicity and religious affiliation, is provided in the tables below:
PAVA incident reports by ethnic group (2022, 2023)
| 2022 |
| 2022 Total | 2023 |
| 2023 Total |
Ethnic Group | Drawn and used | Drawn not used |
| Drawn and used | Drawn not used |
|
Asian | 42 | 9 | 51 | 62 | 11 | 73 |
Black | 245 | 67 | 312 | 349 | 132 | 481 |
Mixed | 53 | 21 | 74 | 91 | 47 | 138 |
Other | 15 | * | 20 | 19 | 15 | 34 |
White | 167 | 61 | 228 | 319 | 212 | 531 |
Unknown | - | * | * | * | * | * |
Grand Total | 522 | 164 | 686 | 843 | 418 | 1,261 |
PAVA incident reports by religion group (2022, 2023)
| 2022 |
| 2022 Total | 2023 |
| 2023 Total |
Religion Group | Drawn and used | Drawn not used |
| Drawn and used | Drawn not used |
|
Christian | 259 | 66 | 325 | 341 | 161 | 502 |
Muslim | 186 | 54 | 240 | 335 | 142 | 477 |
No Religion | 62 | 31 | 93 | 141 | 92 | 233 |
Other | 15 | 13 | 28 | 24 | 23 | 47 |
Unknown | - | - | - | * | - | * |
Grand Total | 522 | 164 | 686 | 843 | 418 | 1,261 |
The Use of Force Policy Framework sets out the context in which force is used lawfully by trained prison staff as well as setting out a professional standard for using force.
All prison officers trained in how to use PAVA undergo regular refreshers which cover the lawful use of force in the custodial setting.
HMPPS is closely monitoring the use of PAVA in all sites at senior levels.
These figures have been drawn from HMPPS Management information. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. We do not provide exact data when the figure is five or fewer, as this risks identification of individuals. In these cases, the figure has been replaced by the symbol *. This approach is in accordance with our standards on data disclosure.
Information relating to the use of PAVA spray on prisoners with disabilities is recorded in a number of formats. To be able to identify all such cases, it would be necessary to review all potentially relevant records, and this could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the (1) mean, and (2) median, tariff length for prisoners receiving a life sentence aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 20, (c) 21 to 24, (d) 25 to 29, (e) 30 to 34 (f) 35 to 39, (g) 40 to 49, (h) 50 to 59, (i) 60 to 69, and (j) 70 and over, at the time of sentencing, in each year from 2002.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested in can be found in the attached table.
Data sources and quality
Note that the tariff length is the time between date of sentencing and tariff expiry date, and does not take into account any time spent on remand. The figures do not include whole-life orders. The numbers are subject to revision as more data become available; any changes in the numbers since the last publication of this information is as a result of more sentencing data becoming available.
The data have come from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording systems, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be amended as part of data cleansing or updates.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 13 January (HL3801), where the information sought in the question is held if not centrally.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is held on a local level by the healthcare providers for each respective prison.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff from ethnic minority backgrounds were employed in the youth justice secure estate on (1) 31 March 2024, and (2) 30 September 2024.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Information is held on staffing numbers in the public-sector youth secure estate, and is published quarterly at table 5b of the HMPPS Workforce Statistics Bulletin:
Table 5b: Youth Custody Estate staff in post, by protected characteristic (headcount) | |||
Protected characteristic | Group | 31-Mar-2024 | 30-Sep-2024 |
Ethnicity | Ethnic Minorities | 292 | 323 |
| White | 1001 | 980 |
| Unknown | 195 | 177 |
| Declaration rate | 86.9% | 88.0% |
| Ethnic minority representation % | 22.6% | 24.8% |
Staffing information in relation to settings that are managed independently is not held by HM Prison & Probation Service.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, how many prisoners arriving in custody were screened for a neurodivergent need in the year to March 2024, and what proportion this represented of the total.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to restore the Campaign Against Living Miserably telephone helpline piloted at HMP Birmingham and to roll out this service to every prison in England.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Work on the introduction of the helpline at HMP Birmingham was interrupted owing to the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and an interim measure was put in place. This enables prisoners to make calls to the general helpline provided by CALM, using the prison PIN service. Possible extension of the service to other prisons remains under consideration.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the current terms of reference of Ofsted.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
Ofsted’s overall functions and remit are set out in a range of legislation, including the Education and Inspections Act 2006, which is available here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/40/part/8. The Act establishes Ofsted as a non-ministerial government department.
Ofsted publishes a number of documents relevant to its work and responsibilities, including its corporate governance arrangements, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsteds-corporate-governance-framework/ofsteds-corporate-governance-framework. An annual report on its work is attached and also available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/655f2551c39e5a001392e4ca/31587_Ofsted_Annual_Report_2022-23_WEB.pdf.