Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents at height occurred in a prison in England and Wales in each year since 2018.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
A barricade or prevention of access is an incident where one or more prisoners deny access to all or part of a prison, by use of any physical barrier, to those lawfully empowered to have such access.
An incident at height is any incident that takes place above or below ground level where a person could be injured if they fell from that place. Incidents at height come in many forms, ranging from internal incidents (prisoners on the fall arrest netting or climbing over bars) to an external incident (prisoners on the roof).
The information requested can be found in the HMPPS Annual Digest - Protesting Behaviour data tool: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64c1438a90b545000d3e83c4/7.__Protesting_behaviour_data_tool.xlsx.
These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.
The national staffing position in prisons is improving, with a substantial increase of over 1,634 Full-Time Equivalent Band 3-5 prison officers in the 12 months ending 31 December 2023.
We are committed to making prisons a safe place to work and providing prison officers with the right support, training and tools to empower them to do their jobs. We are providing targeted support to prisons to operate the Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan (CSIP) which provides a framework for managing violence that is centred around the individual needs of prisoners, helping them to move away from violent behaviours.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many individuals will be released under the end of custody supervised license scheme in 2024.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
While ECSL is in operation, it will continue to free up spaces as more prisoners reach the point in their sentence when they become eligible for release, but only where that continues to be necessary to remain within maximum capacity levels.
An analysis of its use will be based on one year’s worth of data and published on an annual basis in line with other statistics.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether female prisoners will be eligible for release 60 days early under the End of Custody Supervised Licence.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
As we announced in October, ECSL operates across the prison estate in the specific prisons where it is absolutely necessary, including the women’s estate.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the positive test rate was of random mandatory drug tests in each prison in England and Wales in 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Figures for random Mandatory Drug Testing (rMDT) for 2023 cannot be released at this time, as rMDT data for April 2023 - March 2024 is subject to future publication in the 2023-24 HMPPS Annual Digest, to be published in July 2024.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department had with (a) probation officers, (b) senior probation officers and (c) trade union officials representing probation officers before announcing the extension of the end of custody supervised license scheme.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The End of Custody Supervised License (ECSL) Scheme is a targeted measure that will operate in certain areas for a limited period of time where we are moving a prisoner’s release date earlier. We are committed to continue working with the police, prisons, and probation leaders to make further adjustments as required.
Prior to the announcement in Parliament of the extension of ECSL on 11 March, Senior Regional Prison and Probation leaders and Trade Unions were advised of the decision to extend ECSL, to prepare to implement the ECSL changes effectively.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many weapon finds there were in prisons in England and Wales in each year sine 2018.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of incidents of weapon finds in prisons in England and Wales is published in the HMPPS Annual Digest through the Finds Incidents Data Tool.
The figures include incidents occurring within escort areas. These figures represent the number of incidents where weapons were found - multiple weapons can be found and recorded as one incident.
Weapons drive violence, undermine safety and security and have no place in our prisons.
Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the smuggling of illicit items such as weapons, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2023, we have recorded 46,925 positive indications, helping to tackle the smuggling of weapons and other illicit items into prisons. The investment also funded Enhanced Gate Security at 42 high-risk sites, enhancing our routine searching of staff and visitors. 84 X-ray baggage scanners have also been installed at 49 sites to further strengthen our ability to detect the smuggling of illicit items including weapons.
In January this year, we introduced Restricted Fly Zones around prisons to disrupt illegal drone use. This strengthens our ability to intercept illicit items, such as weapons, being smuggled via drones, and enables the police to fine or prosecute those seeking to undermine prison security.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in prison are accommodated (a) alone in a cell intended to accommodate one person, (b) alone in a cell intended to accommodate two persons, (c) in a cell or dormitory intended to accommodate more than one person and (d) with another person in a cell intended for one person as of 26 February 2024.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information has been provided in table form below. Please note that the sum of these populations does not match the recorded total population on the day. This is because some of the prisoners in (b) are also counted in (c). A prisoner could be the sole occupant in cell for 2 people and would be included in (b) and the same prisoner in the same cell would also be included in (c).
Categories | Number |
(a) alone in a cell intended to accommodate one person | 51701 |
(b) alone in a cell intended to accommodate two persons | 882 |
(c) in a cell or dormitory intended to accommodate more than one person | 13857 |
(d) with another person in a cell intended for one person | 22095 |
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The determination of the maximum crowded capacity of a particular establishment is a matter of operational judgement, considering risks to safety and stability. In times of severe population pressure, establishments will be expected to hold as many prisoners as they can safely accommodate, but it is equally clear that that number should be determined by the operational managers responsible for managing the prison, not by a central process or by wider supply and demand issues.
We are delivering 20,000 additional modern uncrowded prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public. We have already delivered c.5,900 places including through our two new 1,700-place prisons, HMP Five Wells and HMP Fosse Way and we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total by the end of 2025.
We are also investing in our prisons to make them safer for both prisoners and staff by taking a preventative approach to safety, making key changes to the physical environment and testing new technology. We will continue to invest in critical prison maintenance and renewal to ensure that we keep as much capacity as possible in use and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his oral statement of 12 March 2024 on Update on foreign national offenders, prisons and probation, in what roles the 400 additional caseworkers were previously working.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The additional caseworkers referenced in the oral statement of Secretary of State for Justice on 12 March 2024 are Home Office staff.
The 400 additional caseworkers are external recruits and were not transferred from other roles.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including distance learning undertaken by prisoners as purposeful activity.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
All prisons have systems in place for the day-to-day management of regime delivery. Each prison has a regime management plan that clearly sets out the full range of prisoner activities and services delivered within the prison, morning and afternoon, from Monday to Friday.
All types of education, including distance learning, are factored into a prison’s regime management plan as part of the purposeful activity that prisoners undertake.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2024 to Question 15927 on Prisons: Civil Disorder, whether there is a minimum staffing requirement for Tornado teams.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Operation Tornado is a national mutual aid plan by which prisons support one another in the event of a serious incident or occurrence requiring a reinforcement of staff. Operation Tornado is employed by HMPPS for three main reasons:
There is no minimum staffing requirement for Tornado teams. HMPPS monitors the number of staff available for deployment and offer training spaces to ensure resilience to respond to serious incidents.