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Written Question
Pharmacy: Security
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the levels of security in community pharmacies to ensure (a) staff and (b) public safety.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.


Written Question
Pharmacy: Theft
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an estimate of the amount of medication that has been stolen from community pharmacies in the last year.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.


Written Question
Pharmacy: Security
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has taken recent steps to ensure that there is increased security for medicines within community pharmacies.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.


Written Question
Pharmacy: Crimes of Violence
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many incidences of assault have been committed against community pharmacy staff in the last year.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.


Written Question
Pharmacy: Safety
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the safety of community pharmacies.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.


Written Question
Drugs: Smuggling
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will hold discussions with the Irish Government on tackling the supply of illegal drugs entering the UK via the sea.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

In December 2021, the Government launched its ten-year drugs strategy, From Harm to Hope, to cut crime and save lives. As part of this, £300 million has been allocated to fund activity to break drug supply chains from end-to-end, this includes targeting upstream flow and securing the UK border to restrict drugs entering the UK via sea, land, and air.

The UK Government and its law enforcement partners are leveraging our extensive international networks to maximise cooperation with other governments to tackle drug trafficking upstream.

Border Force works with law enforcement organisations, including the Police Service Northern Ireland, other UK Police services, An Garda Síochána in the Republic of Ireland and the National Crime Agency, to target those who might attempt to smuggle illicit drugs between the Republic of Ireland and the UK, including via the sea.

Our continued work with partners, including the NCA and other law enforcement agencies, is effective in preventing drugs from reaching local communities where they fuel violence and exploitation, causing significant harm to our society.


Written Question
Prisons: Smuggling
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help prevent drones being used to bring drugs and other illicit goods into prisons.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the illegal use of drones to deliver contraband into prisons. We conduct vulnerability assessments across the estate to understand the risk and develop and implement plans to manage and mitigate the threat, including physical countermeasures.

The Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021 established powers for prisons to authorise the use of counter-drone technology. This Act also enables the police to stop and search those suspected of committing drone-related crimes.

In January this year, we strengthened the legislative framework by introducing Restricted Fly Zones around prisons to disrupt illegal drone use. This strengthens our ability to intercept illicit items being smuggled via drones, and enables the police to fine or prosecute those seeking to undermine prison security.

Recent joint operations with the police and HMPPS have resulted in a number of drone related arrests and disruptions to the activity of serious and organised crime networks. Since June 2016 we have secured over 70 convictions, and those convicted have been sentenced to more than a total of 240 years in prison.


Written Question
Prisons: Drugs
Thursday 29th February 2024

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an estimate of the number of (a) prison officers and (b) other prison staff who have been (i) investigated, (ii) arrested and (iii) charged in relation to the supply of drugs in prisons in (A) 2018, (B) 2019, (C) 2020, (D) 2021, (E) 2022 and (F) 2023.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

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 (HMPPS) has a zero-tolerance policy on staff who convey drugs 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 number of staff being manipulated and conditioned by prisoners, is ongoing. This includes increased resource to pursue corruption, as well as established a new ‘Prevent’ function, aimed at building staff resilience against corruption. The increased numbers detailed in the tables below may reflect this increased investment in monitoring and reporting of drug conveyance and corruption, as well as increasing staff numbers across the prison estate.

Prior to April 2019, corruption in HMPPS was managed by the Corruption Prevention Unit (CPU). The CPU was a largely centralised unit focused on sanitising and disseminating all corruption related intelligence to the Police, with an individual Regional Corruption Prevention Manager (RCPM) in each geographical region offering advice and support to prisons in managing corruption, hence data prior to April 2019 is not available.

a) Below is a table showing the breakdown of Prison Officers and Prison staff who have been investigated in relation to the supply of drugs in prison between Dec 2020 to Dec 2023.

Table 1

Operations Opened

Prison Officer

Non-Prisoner Officer

2020

268

449

2021

424

728

2022

465

742

2023

435

720

Source: Linkspace Case Management System.

b) Below is a table showing the breakdown of total Prison Officers and Prison staff who have been Arrested in relation to the supply of drugs in prison between Dec 2020 to Dec 2023.

Conveyance Arrests Total

Total - Prison Officer and Non-Prison Officer

2020

34

2021

43

2022

37

2023

47

Source: Linkspace Case Management System.

Note: numbers for arrests cannot be separated by job, so are grouped for prison officers and non-prison officers.

c) Below is a table showing the breakdown of conveyance charges between Dec 2020 to Dec 2023.

Conveyance Charges

Prison Officer

Non-Prison Officer

2020

10

22

2021

25

39

2022

16

30

2023

20

36

Source: Linkspace Case Management System.


Written Question
Prison Officers: Drugs
Thursday 29th February 2024

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers were charged under the (a) Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and (b) Prisons Act 1952 for smuggling drugs into prison in each year since 2018.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

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 (HMPPS) has a zero-tolerance policy on corruption and takes appropriate action to the small number of staff and prisoners who break the rules. Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons including reducing the number of staff being manipulated and conditioned by prisoners, is ongoing. This includes increased resource to pursue corruption, as well as established a new ‘Prevent’ function, aimed at building staff resilience against corruption.

a) The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is not a charge associated to offences pursed by the Counter Corruption Unit, which tackles the corruption linked to HMPPS staff and prisoners.

b) The Counter Corruption Unit dataset is specific to charges within the act, notably conveyance. To provide the requested data it would be a disproportionate cost to check individual records to provide an answer to this question.


Written Question
Cybercrime: Greater London
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help tackle cyber-related crime in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

Tackling cyber crime is at the heart of the Government’s National Cyber Strategy 2022-25, which is supported by £2.6 billion of investment through the National Cyber Fund.

Key to delivery is ensuring that local policing has the resources needed to deal with the cyber threats we face. In 2023/24, the Home Office is receiving £18 million from the National Cyber Fund to provide a range of capabilities and resource to tackle and respond to cyber crime. This funding is supplemented by a further £16 million of Home Office funding through the Police Settlement Programme.

This funding continues to build law enforcement capabilities at the national, regional, and local levels to ensure they have the capacity and expertise to deal with the perpetrators and victims of cyber crime.

There are a wide range of law enforcement and community outreach programmes addressing cyber crime in Greater London and Enfield, which include:

  • The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) take part in a Junior Citizens Scheme across various boroughs in London. This includes information and presentations to young people around cyber crime.
  • The MPS have been delivering presentations at Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) forums across London to raise awareness of how to refer individuals into the Cyber Choices programme, which aims to deter them from committing cyber crime in the first place. The MPS aims to deliver these presentations to all 32 boroughs. The presentation in Enfield took place on the 23rd January 2024.
  • In May 2023, officers from the MPS Protect Team attended Enfield School for Girls and carried out their Cyber Escape Room with 38 students.
  • The MPS Cyber Crime Unit targets Organised Crime Networks (OCN) that utilise Dark Web marketplaces to supply large amounts of drugs. In the last 18 month period, three unconnected OCNs that were operating in the Enfield area were dismantled and convicted.

We continue to work with all of society to tackle cyber crime as we recognise it is an issue that requires collaboration from citizens, businesses and the public sector, keenly working with communities in Enfield to educate and inform as to the harms cyber crime can cause.