Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Selous and Steve Rotheram

Tuesday 3rd February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

5. What steps he is taking to improve security and prisoner and staff safety at HMP Altcourse.

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

The National Offender Management Service is working very closely with the contractor in a number of areas to address those extremely important issues.

[Steve Rotheram]

I visited the jail myself recently and there have been some welcome improvements since the action plan, but, given the damning report by Her Majesty’s inspectorate of prisons, can the Minister assure my constituents that the prison is not only safe, but fit for purpose?

[Andrew Selous]

The Government take this issue extremely seriously, and the Secretary of State was at that prison on Friday. We are taking five actions. First, a new director has been appointed. He was formerly director of Her Majesty’s Prison Rye Hill, and he took up his position on 8 December. There is a new head of security and a new security intelligence manager, and new search and security systems are in place. Two full lock-down searches of the prison were conducted in November and December, and improvements have been made in the operation of the basic regime, which will help with the issues that the hon. Gentleman quite properly raises.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Selous and Steve Rotheram

Tuesday 11th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

T8. Drugs are a growing scourge in our prisons. Altcourse prison in my constituency was recently criticised by Her Majesty’s inspector of prisons for not making the necessary links between drug gangs and violence. Does the Minister agree with the right hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) who said:“If anyone is soft on drugs it’s my Conservative colleagues”?

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

We take drugs in prisons extremely seriously. We do our very best to make sure that they are not there. We have mandatory drug testing and the results have actually come down. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that there are new psychoactive substances, and we have to make sure we are working with our scientific partners to have appropriate testing for them. We are also looking to make sure that tramadol is not abused in prisons.