Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Tuesday 25th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

To be precise, there are actually about 700 people of concern. Of those 700, about 180 are in prison or on remand for terrorism-related offences. The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right about what happens when people come into the community. The multi-agency protection arrangements with law enforcement mean that those people are subject to strict licence conditions, and if they breach those licence conditions, they can and do end up in jail. The police are obviously part of that.

I take this opportunity to thank the police, especially those who protect us here as we go about our daily jobs.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

Are the Government planning to provide any specific training for prison officers to help to identify those inmates with extremist tendencies?

[Mr Gyimah]

Prison officers play a vital role in combating extremism in our prisons, given the contact and proximity they have with prisoners. Just last December we rolled out a new extensive training programme for all our prison officers to enable them to identify that threat and to help to deal with it.