Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant of the Answer of 1 February 2022 to Question 112567 on Prison Officers: Training, how many prison staff (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of the total prison workforce have completed training to deal with terrorist or extremist prisoners.

We rolled out the ASPECTS training programme in 2017 to help prison staff identify, report, and manage terrorist behaviour in prisons.

a) As of 10 December 2021, 15,585 Band 2-5 members of operational staff had received ASPECTS training.

The cumulative total of all attendees at an ASPECTS training session since 2017 is 45,437. However, this figure includes those who have since left the prison service, have undertaken the training more than once, HQ staff and those working in privately managed prisons.

b) The answer as of December 2021 represents 68% of the Band 2-5 operational staff cohort currently deployed, comprising Operational Support Grades, Prison Officers, Supervising Officers and Custodial Managers.

The Counter Terrorism Step Up programme will deliver a new comprehensive programme of counter terrorism training across HMPPS frontline staff, including a suite of tailored products, systematically delivered, and continually evaluated, to ensure all staff have the information and confidence to fully discharge their counter terrorism responsibilities.