Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Cheryl Gillan

Tuesday 25th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

As I have said, the review will be carried out by the Home Office, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman’s question has been noted and will be reflected in the review.

[Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)]

3. What steps she is taking to tackle extremism in prisons.

[Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)]

14. What steps she is taking to tackle extremism in prisons.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Sam Gyimah)]

Extremism in prisons is something we take very seriously. The Department has set up a new directorate to oversee all aspects of our work on extremism and terrorism. We have also created a new joint unit encompassing the Prison Service, the national probation service and the Home Office, with enhanced resources to deliver our extremism strategy.

[Mrs Gillan]

Extremism in prisons means that vulnerable people, such as those with mental health problems or those on the autistic spectrum, could be at great risk in those closed environments. Will the Minister tell me what work the Government are doing to protect people from extremism within the prison system and what reasonable adjustments are being made to help those particularly vulnerable people?

[Mr Gyimah]

My right hon. Friend, as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on autism, understands the particular vulnerabilities of such people within the prison system. Prison staff take extra care in monitoring and understanding the threats to vulnerable people such as those with autism, and robustly intervene where there are any threats, including of extremism and radicalisation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Cheryl Gillan

Tuesday 1st November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that there are a number of barriers for employers in taking ex-offenders—some around trust, some around stigma—and some real hard issues such as insurance. We will be looking at all those issues and reducing those barriers, so that employers are incentivised to take on ex-offenders. Interestingly, those who do so, such as Timpson’s, say that some of their most loyal employees are those who have come out of the prison system. We want that to continue.

[Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)]

19. Some 15% of young people in custody are autistic. With yesterday’s publication of the Government’s excellent Green Paper on halving the disability employment gap and the recognition that autistic people need specific personal help, what contribution will the Department make to ensuring that autistic offenders find employment on release?

[Mr Gyimah]

The issue is not just autistic offenders. We know that many people in the youth justice system, as well as in the prison population as a whole, have special educational needs and low levels of literacy. A key step that the Government have taken is moving the relevant education budgets from the Department for Education to the Ministry of Justice. We will be delegating those budgets to prison governors, so that they can spend appropriately on the needs of each prisoner to help them to get the right education so they can get employment.