Protection of Prison Staff

Lord Walney Excerpts

Tuesday 13th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Timpson (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right that drugs are a massive problem in our prisons. Some 49% of people arriving in prison tell us they are addicted to drugs, and then we put them in a prison with serious organised criminals who make a lot of money out of selling drugs to them, so clearly we have a problem. However, I am interested not just in tackling drugs getting into prisons—how we tackle drones and illegal contraband coming in—but in how people can leave prison not addicted, so that when they leave prison they do not go back.

[Lord Walney (CB)]

These attacks were made by dangerous individuals who had been imprisoned because of their violent radicalism, but there remains the problem of radicalisation within prisons once prisoners arrive on the estate. What assessment has the Minister made in his early months of the scale of this within the prison system and the current level of resilience in what the state and prison officers can do to protect prisoners from it?

[Lord Timpson (Lab)]

Any gang member is a problem in our prisons. We need to make sure that we identify where they are and do all that we can to limit their activities. We know that the best way of dealing with these complex people is by trusting the staff and their expertise at dealing with them, and we need to we give them every tool at their disposal to make sure that these people are not dangerous to themselves, to other prisoners and, most importantly, to staff.