Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many former prison guards were found guilty of criminal offences in each year since 2015.

Information on how many former prison guards were found guilty of criminal offences in each year since 2015 is not centrally held.

This is because the information cannot be obtained from the administrative systems held for the public authority purposes by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service and the Ministry of Justice. If held, this information can only be obtained by accessing the case records themselves; these case records are held in the custody of the court for the purposes of the court, only.

The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners.

HM Prison & Probation Service has a zero-tolerance policy to drugs conveyed into prisons and take appropriate action to a small number of prison staff who break the rules. Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs and mobile phones, is ongoing. This includes increased resource to pursue corruption, as well as established a new ‘Prevent’ function, aimed at building staff resilience against corruption.