Prisons: Security

(asked on 20th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Government's policy to allocate £100 million funding to improve prison security and restrict the supply of drugs into prisons, as announced in August 2019; and what criteria his Department has used to assess the value for money of that funding.


Answered by
Alex Chalk Portrait
Alex Chalk
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
This question was answered on 6th September 2021

Preventing contraband such as drugs into prisons via the gate, reception and post is a key priority of my department. Despite challenges to operational delivery during the pandemic, we are delivering on our commitment for safer and more secure prisons including through the £100 million investment in prison security through the Security Investment Programme (SIP).

The evaluation of the impact of SIP is still in its early stages and we will report indicative findings in Spring 2022 and final findings in Spring 2023. Although formal evaluation is in its early stages, we do know that within its first year, the SIP has had multiple successes, achieving the following:

  • The installation of 69 X-ray body scanners, with over 9000 positive indications. This has included contraband being retrieved, for example in one case 10.5g of cocaine with an estimated prison value of £4000 was recovered.

  • The roll out of Enhanced Gate Security (EGS), replicating the measures used in airport screening, resulting in hundreds of illicit items being prevented from entering prisons.

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