Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to place HMP Winchester into special measures.

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons invoked an Urgent Notification (UN) at HMP Winchester on 24 October after a concerning inspection. While there is no specific “special measures” process for prisons, once a site is subject to UN it is placed under enhanced supervision from senior officials within His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) until such time as we are confident that sufficient progress has been made.

The Lord Chancellor and I are determined to drive improvement at HMP Winchester and, as a first step in response to the UN, we will publish our initial action plan setting out the actions we will be taking by no later than 21 November 2024.