Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison community impact assessment reports have been submitted by each prison establishment since the introduction of the new joint national protocol between NOMS, the Crown Prosecution Service and the National Police Chiefs Council.

The joint national protocol on the appropriate handling of crimes in prison was published in February. I am committed to making the protocol work to ensure that serious crimes in prison are not ignored and are dealt with fully by the Criminal Justice System. The protocol provides that when a crime committed in prison is referred to the police, the prison is offered the opportunity to provide a Prison Community Impact Statement, the purpose of which is to provide relevant and useful information on behalf of the prison about the impact the offence has had on the establishment.

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Information about the number of Prison Community Impact Statements which have been submitted since publication of the protocol is not held centrally and could only be collected at disproportionate cost.

Although this information cannot be provided at the present time senior officials from NOMS, the Crown Prosecution Service and the police are looking at monitoring progress on the implementation of the protocol and setting priorities for future work and monitoring arrangements will enable data of this type to be provided in due course.