Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made in improving the effectiveness of body scanners in monitoring the flow of (a) drugs, (b) weapons and (c) other contraband into prisons.

The Ministry of Justice is committed to taking every possible measure to strengthen prison security. Every prison in the closed adult male estate is equipped with a body scanner. They are used to prevent illicit drugs, mobile phones and other contraband from entering prisons.

As of March 2024, over 53,000 positive indications had been recorded by our X-ray body scanners. This demonstrates the clear impact they are having.

A full evaluation of the Security Investment Programme was undertaken. The findings of the evaluation have been published and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/security-investment-programme-evaluation.