Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Tuesday 9th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Andrew Selous)]

The National Offender Management Service regularly carries out assessments of all aspects of security and delivery at HMP Northumberland and will continue to monitor the prison’s progress closely.

[Mr Brown]

May I caution the Minister against reading out what the civil service put in front of him as if that were a satisfactory answer to the question? The situation at the prison has been described by work force representatives as a “powder keg”. The issue is the dramatic reduction in staffing and the increase in the number of prisoners. I urge the Minister to look at the situation and satisfy himself that the prison is safe, because all the advice that the region’s MPs are receiving is that it is not.

[Andrew Selous]

I think I can give the right hon. Gentleman some good news. Like all prisons, HMP Northumberland is subject to performance targets and it is currently at level 3, the second highest level. Twelve new recruits have just joined the prison, 13 more are due to start next Monday and 22 reserve staff can be called up to make up any shortfall, so I do not recognise the description given by the right hon. Gentleman.

[Sir Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (LD)]

Does the Minister recognise that adequate staff numbers are essential not only to safety but to rehabilitation, and that I expressed concerns to his predecessor that the public sector bid and the Sodexo bid, which was successful, both involved a significant reduction in staff numbers?

[Andrew Selous]

I absolutely recognise what the Chair of the Justice Committee says. As I have just said, we are increasing staff numbers at the prison: 13 more recruits are due to start next week, 12 have already joined and there are 22 reserve staff available. The prison will also have a further inspection next week, so we are keeping these matters closely under review. As I have said, more staff are joining.

[Ian Lucas (Wrexham) (Lab)]

rose—

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[Andrew Selous]

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing a bit of balance to our discussions on HMP Northumberland. I thank him for what he has said. Of course, there are some pressures in our prisons, but prison officers are doing magnificent work every day. Frankly, it is time that was recognised and celebrated.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

6. What estimate he has made of the number of offenders given a non-custodial sentence in the past three years who had more than 100 previous convictions.

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[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

16. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of open prisons.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Andrew Selous)]

Open prisons are subject to inspection by Her Majesty’s inspectorate to measure performance in four key areas: resettlement, purposeful activity, safety and respect. Alongside this, the Ministry of Justice operates an internal audit assurance mechanism. Open prisons are subject to audit in the same way as the rest of the prison estate and are awarded a rating based on assurance against national baselines. HMIP and internal audit outcomes are combined with scores from other performance measures to give an overall performance rating on the prison rating system. All open prisons are currently rated as 4, which is exceptional, or 3, meeting targets.

[Andrew Griffiths]

I thank the Minister for that response, but Sudbury prison is neither effective nor meeting its targets. The local newspaper recently ran a story with the mugshots of 24 prisoners who were still on the run from Sudbury prison. We recently had four prisoners absconding in five days and two have disappeared in the last month. My constituents are concerned for their safety. This is not working; what is the Minister going to do about it?

[Andrew Selous]

I recognise my hon. Friend’s concern, but let me give him some helpful facts. The list of 24 Sudbury prisoners unlawfully at large that was recently published by Derbyshire police includes cases from 1992 onwards, with half occurring before 2006. Absconds have reduced by 80% in the last 10 years, and this Government have recently made significant changes to the way prisoners are assessed for eligibility for open prisons and to receive relief on temporary licence.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Following representations from me and others to the Minister’s predecessor, I welcome the fact that the Government reversed their decision on having steel-strung guitars for prisoners in prison cells. Will he update us on how the reversal of that policy is going? Have there been any problems, and does he recognise the value of music as a rehabilitative force in our prisons?

[Andrew Selous]

I think that one of the first letters I received after my appointment was from the hon. Gentleman about this issue. I was pleased that we were able to resolve it. As far as I am aware, there have been no issues and no difficulties. I believe the new policy is settling down well.

[Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Con)]

17. What steps he is taking to reduce the level of violence in prisons.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Andrew Selous)]

My right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General visited Swaleside, one of the prisons in my hon. Friend’s constituency, on 2 May this year, and spoke to prison staff there. As a new Minister, I have been visiting as many prisons as possible, and I look forward to visiting a prison in my hon. Friend’s constituency in due course.

[Gordon Henderson]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s reply, but does he accept that the Prison Service is undergoing a great many changes, and that, as a result, the three prisons in my constituency face a number of challenges? I am delighted that he has agreed to visit my constituency, and I hope that he will be able to talk to the prison officers who have been affected by the changes and tasked with implementing them.

[Andrew Selous]

I am grateful for what my hon. Friend has said. I have visited prisons on a very regular basis, and have observed that, while they are certainly subject to some pressures, excellent work is being done. I talk to prison officers regularly as well, and I look forward to talking to those in his constituency.

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

18. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the probation service.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Andrew Selous)]

We are monitoring the performance of the probation service closely as we implement our reforms.

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

The probation service has warned of the disruptive effect of splitting up the probation system, and is already being proved correct. Dedicated officers in Shields tell me that long-standing and trusting relationships with clients have been cut short, which has made those individuals more difficult to engage, and, worse, more likely to reoffend. Why have the Government ignored those warnings?

[Andrew Selous]

Government Members are not happy with the very high reoffending rates that we have had for decades, and we are determined to do better. We shall be introducing supervision for prisoners who have been sentenced to less than one year, and we believe that our reforms will be highly successful. We are ambitious to end the cycle of reoffending that has blighted our communities for far too long, and we are doing something about it.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

T6. It is an intolerable burden on British taxpayers that they should be funding the cost of so many foreign prisoners. Can the Secretary of State inform us what action is being taken to reduce the number and return more of them to their home country?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Andrew Selous)]

I share my hon. Friend’s concern about the issue. Reducing the foreign national offender population is a top priority for the Government. Last year, we removed 5,097 foreign national offenders compared with 4,072 in 2012-13 and 4,539 in 2011-12. Whereas this Government have begun to reduce the foreign national population in prison, the number of foreign nationals in our prisons under the last Government more than doubled.

[Mr Speaker]

Michael Connarty. Not here.

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[Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)]

T10. As a former prison assistant governor, I take a great interest in the rehabilitation of ex-offenders, so I am very proud of my constituent, Jason Turner, a former drug addict who is today launching his film, “Making your past pay.” He turned his life around after 22 years of crime and addiction, and the film features Benjamin Zephaniah aiming to show offenders how they can turn their lives around. Does my hon. Friend agree with my constituent Jason that offenders seeking to rehabilitate should never allow themselves to be defined by their past?

[Andrew Selous]

My hon. Friend is rightly proud of her constituent, and the objective of the Ministry of Justice is to make sure that people do turn their lives around, as her constituent has done. All credit to him, and we believe our transforming rehabilitation reforms will do that for many more people.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

T7. There have been reports that a number of offenders remain unallocated to supervising officers following the division of the probation service into probation and community rehabilitation companies, with obvious concerns for public safety. The Secretary of State has said that he will only proceed with the transforming rehabilitation programme if he is confident it is safe to do so. Will he now undertake to publish the findings of the test gates, including the upcoming test gate 4, so that the public can have that reassurance?

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[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

How many foreign national offenders are there in our prisons, and what concrete steps are being taken to send them back to secure custody in their own countries?

[Andrew Selous]

We have 10,834 foreign national offenders in our prisons. We have signed prisoner transfer agreements with the European Union, Albania and Nigeria and, as I said in an earlier answer, we removed 5,097 foreign national offenders last year. I can assure my hon. Friend that this is a priority for me, as it is for him.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

The number of prison suicides has risen by 50% since the coalition came to power. The Secretary of State sits on his hands and simply says that the numbers go up and down; he has no explanation for that. However, his own chief inspector of prisons says that this is down to overcrowding. Is he wrong?

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[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

The Joint Committee on Human Rights has reported that the Government do not appear to have carried out an equality impact assessment of secure colleges. Many experts, and many in this House, are concerned about the impact of those colleges on girls and young children. Why has no impact assessment been carried out and what is the Minister going to do about it?

[Andrew Selous]

Any introduction of under-15s and girls to those colleges would be carefully phased; they would not be placed in such a college from its opening. At the moment, seven out of 10 young offenders reoffend within a year. They cost on average £100,000 and sometimes up to £200,000. The hon. Lady will know very well that details of assessments have generally not been released by any Government.