HMP Leyhill: Offender Abscondments
Claire Young Excerpts(1 week ago)
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Alex Davies-Jones
I welcome that positive question. My hon. Friend is right that this this is going to take all of us working together across the prison system—everyone in His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. I again pay tribute to our brilliant staff who are working on the frontline in very difficult, challenging conditions every single day in an underfunded, chronically in chaos prison system that we are having to rebuild literally brick by brick. Our staff are our biggest asset in this, and we are working with them and the trade unions to make sure they have all the equipment, tools and training necessary to ensure that the number of absconsions comes down.
Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)
My constituents are concerned that high-risk violent prisoners are increasingly being placed in Leyhill open prison, putting local residents at risk when they abscond. Will the Minister review the process for assessing prisoners prior to a move? With new rapid deployment cells expected to be online at Leyhill by the summer, will she also meet me to discuss what steps the Government are taking to ensure that those cells will not be used for high-risk prisoners, and to increase security to prevent escapes?
Alex Davies-Jones
The hon. Lady will be aware that the policy regarding recommendations for moving to an open prison is handled by the independent Parole Board. That is a policy that has been carried out by successive Governments. I will ensure that she receives a meeting with the appropriate Minister to discuss her concerns further, and a review into the absconsions at HMP Leyhill will be done within 20 days.
Oral Answers to Questions
Claire Young Excerpts(2 months ago)
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Mr Lammy
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We recruited over 1,000 staff last year and 1,300 this year—we must retain them. Key to that is reducing caseloads, and that is why I am introducing AI.
Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)
Alex Davies-Jones
The hon. Member will know that this Government have made it a priority to put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system, and we are looking specifically at crimes committed against women and girls. We are working across Government with the Home Office, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Attorney General’s Office to ensure that all agencies of the state and all of society get to grips with these crimes to bear down on the issue, so that we can all live safe, wherever we are.