Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her plans are for the asylum seekers housed in hotels, in the context of the Chancellor’s recent pledge to end all hotel accommodation for asylum seekers by 2029.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders to fulfil our statutory obligations and deliver our commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisons have rats: and what steps she taking to tackle this.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has specialist contractors to tackle any rodent activity, when it occurs.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of changing the rules to allow prison officers who retire after failing their annual physical fitness test to receive their full pension.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Prison officers are members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS), for which the policy is owned by HM Treasury and applied to the scheme by Cabinet Office.
Like all public sector pension schemes, a member of the CSPS can consider taking retirement at any time after reaching the age of 55 (increases to 57 from 2028).
If there is an underlying medical condition which significantly impacts a prison officer from carrying out their role, they may be considered for Ill Health Retirement.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison officers aged 60 or over were dismissed from service after failing an annual fitness test in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has plans to review leasehold arrangements to prevent charities leasing buildings from having to deal with the costs of failed (a) heat pumps and (b) other infrastructure.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
No such assessment has been made. However, The Law Commission is conducting a review of business tenancies to ensure the commercial leasehold market is accessible and functions effectively. In addition, through High Street Rental Auctions, we are creating opportunities for these groups to secure property opportunities.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of being liable for the repair or replacement of heat pumps in leased premises on (a) charities and (b) non-profit organisations.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
No such assessment has been made. However, The Law Commission is conducting a review of business tenancies to ensure the commercial leasehold market is accessible and functions effectively. In addition, through High Street Rental Auctions, we are creating opportunities for these groups to secure property opportunities.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many violent attacks on prison officers on prison estates have occurred in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Reducing the levels of violence in prisons is a key priority and we are working hard to make prisons as safe as possible.
In response to recent serious assaults on our brave and hardworking prison officers, we are mandating the use of Protective Body Armour in the highest risk units and this summer we will trial the use of tasers by specialist staff in adult male prisons.
To protect our staff from serious assaults, PAVA – a synthetic pepper spray – is available in the adult male closed estate and a limited rollout in three Youth Offender Institutions is planned to commence in the summer period, to be used as a last resort in response to an immediate threat of serious harm. We are also committed to removing wet shave razors, that can be used as weapons. Electric shavers are in 31 priority sites in the adult male closed estate and this rollout continues.
All new staff receive violence reduction training and prisoners who pose a raised risk of violence are supported through a case management approach to address the underlying causes of their violence. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 doubled the maximum penalty to two years’ imprisonment for those who assault prison officers.
We publish Safety in Custody statistics quarterly covering deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison custody in England and Wales. Statistics on assaults on staff can be found in Table 4 of the Safety in Custody summary tables to December 2024.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the level of violence against prison officers in prisons.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Reducing the levels of violence in prisons is a key priority and we are working hard to make prisons as safe as possible.
In response to recent serious assaults on our brave and hardworking prison officers, we are mandating the use of Protective Body Armour in the highest risk units and this summer we will trial the use of tasers by specialist staff in adult male prisons.
To protect our staff from serious assaults, PAVA – a synthetic pepper spray – is available in the adult male closed estate and a limited rollout in three Youth Offender Institutions is planned to commence in the summer period, to be used as a last resort in response to an immediate threat of serious harm. We are also committed to removing wet shave razors, that can be used as weapons. Electric shavers are in 31 priority sites in the adult male closed estate and this rollout continues.
All new staff receive violence reduction training and prisoners who pose a raised risk of violence are supported through a case management approach to address the underlying causes of their violence. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 doubled the maximum penalty to two years’ imprisonment for those who assault prison officers.
We publish Safety in Custody statistics quarterly covering deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison custody in England and Wales. Statistics on assaults on staff can be found in Table 4 of the Safety in Custody summary tables to December 2024.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to improve (a) working conditions and (b) infrastructure for prison officers.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We recognise that the serious problem of over-occupancy which we inherited has meant that conditions for those living and working in prisons are not those we would expect. We are determined to rectify this. The steps we are taking include action in response to the independent Sentencing Review and our prison building programme. Together, these measures are designed to balance demand for prison places with supply over the longer term.
Our 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy makes a commitment to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places: we aim to do this by 2031. This involves the construction of four new prisons, including the recently delivered HMP Millsike, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate and temporary accommodation.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the retirement age for prison officers given the (a) mental and (b) physical health challenges of the role.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We recognise the unique and challenging role that prison officers play in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. The Lord Chancellor has requested advice from officials on the pension age of prison officers, and we will continue to engage with trade unions as this is considered.