Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of prison officer retention.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Despite the efforts of hard-working staff, prisons are in crisis. Band 3-5 Prison Officer leaving rates peaked in 2023 and we are experiencing the impact of that now, with significant numbers of prison officers who have recently been recruited and lack experience. Although leaving rates have now lowered, we must focus our attention on retaining our dedicated staff in order to maintain a sufficiently resourced and skilled workforce to deliver quality outcomes in prisons. It takes time to build confidence, capability and the jailcraft skills that are essential to improve the system, and for prisons to successfully carry out their vital role of protecting the public and reducing reoffending.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take to help tackle violence in prisons.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Reducing violence in prisons is a key priority, and we are working hard to make prisons as safe as possible.
A range of security measures are in place to clamp down on illicit items such as weapons and drugs, that can fuel prison violence. This includes X-ray body scanners at every closed adult male prison, and enhanced gate security at 42 high-risk prisons. In addition, Body Worn Video Cameras are provided to all band 3-5 prison officers on shift to prevent violence and provide valuable evidence for prosecution when it does occur.
To ensure our staff are equipped with the right tools to protect themselves and prisoners from serious assaults, PAVA – a synthetic pepper spray – has been rolled out for use by prison officers in the adult male estate alongside SPEAR, a personal safety training package.
We continue to support those at risk of violence through an estate-wide case management approach and we are providing targeted support to a number of adult male prisons with the highest rates of assaults.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on establishing a Royal Commission on the criminal justice process.
Answered by Mike Freer
Although we recognise the opportunity that a Royal Commission could present to look at structural questions in the criminal justice system, we think it is right that, following the pandemic and the Criminal Bar Association’s disruptive action, we focus on delivering priority measures to speed up justice for victims and improve the justice system over the coming months.
We continue to keep issues in the wider criminal justice system under review.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the financial impact of outsourcing in prisons.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In June 2019, the Ministry of Justice put in place the Prison Operator Services Framework to manage a pipeline of operator competitions for new build prisons, and existing private prisons as they expire. To date, eight operator competitions have been conducted via the Framework, with five contracts awarded and a further three due to be awarded in 2024.
The aim of all operator competitions is to secure an operator to provide high quality, sustainable, and value for money custodial and maintenance services that are safe, decent, secure, and rehabilitative.
In each competition, bidders are required to set out detailed, high quality, value for money prison specific proposals that must meet minimum quality and financial thresholds. Bids are evaluated against clearly defined quality and financial criteria and a public sector comparator.
All operator competitions have delivered savings and provided additional added value when compared against the public sector comparator.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the pension age of prison officers to 60.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The pension age in all public sector pension schemes is set under legislation by HM Treasury and the merits of any review in aspects of the pension scheme, including pension age, would be for them to consider. I am committed to listening to and working with officers, staff and trade unions and I continue to meet with the Prison Officer’s Association and other unions to discuss a range of issues, including pensions. We highly value our hardworking prison officers and take very seriously the safety of all staff working within prisons, whatever their age. The Ministry of Justice continues to review and roll out new safety equipment and provide new skills to prison officers to deal with challenging situations and reduce the risk of assault.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drug recovery wings have been opened in prisons since 22 July 2022.
Answered by Damian Hinds
As part of the ambitious cross-Government Drug Strategy, we are rolling out a wide range of interventions to support prisoners off drugs and into recovery. This includes testing a new approach to help prisoners with an opiate dependency achieve abstinence, through abstinence-focused Drug Recovery Wings. Seven of these are now open across the estate. Alongside this, we are increasing the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living units, where prisoners commit to remaining free of illicit drugs with regular drug testing and incentives. We have more than doubled the number of these from 25 last summer to 60 now, aiming to reach up to 100 by March 2025.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on reducing court backlogs for health and safety cases.
Answered by Mike Freer
The number of outstanding cases for health and safety offences in the Crown Court has reduced. From a peak in the pandemic in 2021 of 144, the latest data shows the number of health and safety cases outstanding in the Crown Court is at 99, the lowest level since 2018. This data is a further breakdown of published data that can be found in the criminal court statistics quarterly publication, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2023.
We want to make sure every victim has the swift access to justice they deserve, and we are working hard to reduce the number of outstanding cases in the Crown Court. This includes removing the cap on the number of days courts can sit for the third year, recruiting more judges and extending the use of Nightingale Courts.
Thanks to this action, the Crown Court sat for more than 100,000 days last year - the highest level since 2017-18, and in both June and July around 15% more cases were completed compared to the previous two months.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken to conclude inquests relating to work-related fatal injury.
Answered by Mike Freer
Information is not collated specifically on inquest conclusions relating to deaths resulting from work-related injury. Where other investigations are also required in relation to a death, these may impact on the length of the inquest process.
The annual Coroner Statistics, which are published each May for the preceding calendar year, include data on the average time taken to process an inquest across all coroner areas in England and Wales. In 2022, this was 30 weeks – a decrease from 2021. Information for individual coroner areas is also available in the Statistics.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have successfully challenged a rent increase at the Tribunal in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mike Freer
The information requested is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on receipts and disposals in the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). The published statistics are available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2023.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2023 to Question 184838, what his Department's planned timescale is for the review on improvements to the information held on warrant applications; and if he will make a statement upon the conclusion of that review.
Answered by Mike Freer
It is not yet possible to commit to a timescale for a decision on the improvements to be made to the collection of information concerning applications for rights of entry warrants by energy firms. This is because any changes would need to be applied to the systems and processes of both HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the energy firms. Changes need to be costed, agreed, and prioritised against other system changes, following consultation with the judiciary.