Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many days HMP Wandsworth has been at a (a) red, (b) amber-red and (c) amber-green operating state since 1 February 2023.

During the period since 1 Feb 2023, the regime at the prison has been at Green-Amber status for three weeks, and at Amber-Red for 51 weeks. Amber-Red confers that a safe, decent, secure, resilient and sustainable regime is being delivered, including purposeful activities, showers and exercise, and all essential services.

To improve regime delivery there has been significant focus on the recruitment of staff at HMP Wandsworth, with 66 new prison officers currently in training and being deployed to the prison in the coming weeks. In the meantime, HMP Wandsworth is being provided with continuing support through additional “Payment Plus” hours, equivalent to 39 additional prison officers. The Prison will continue to receive support as required and regularly reviews the level of regime it is able safely to deliver.