Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of legislating to make to Body-Worn Cameras accessible to all officers on the frontline, including Prisoner Escorting and Custody officers.

A procurement process for the next generation of Body Worn Video Cameras (BWVC) within the public prison estate is underway, for rollout commencing in 2022. The process will represent a substantial uplift of cameras available to the entire public prison estate, with each establishment having sufficient stock of cameras for every operational band 3 – 5 Prison Officer on shift at any time and a surplus for other roles.

In conjunction with the procurement of new cameras, a review of the current Prison Service Instruction is being undertaken to ensure the new Policy Framework reflects new and effective practices. This includes mandatory wearing of cameras by operational band 3 – 5 Prison Officers and their use outside of prison establishments, including on external escorts of prisoners.

It is at the discretion of Privately Managed Provisions (PMP), such as Prisoner Escort and Custody Services, to determine the provision of BWVCs to their staff. PMP providers have a range of existing contracts for the provision BWVCs, which adds to the complexities of standardising BWVC use within PMP. As such, mandating BWVCs within PMP has not been pursued within the current review of the Prison Service Instruction.