Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to manage prison population levels.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
We continue to focus on the prison capacity challenge.
To meet rising demand, we are building c.20,000 modern, rehabilitative prison places – the biggest prison build programme since the Victorian era. We have already delivered c.5,900 of these, including through our two new 1,700 places prisons, HMP Five Wells and HMP Fosse Way, and c.590 Rapid Deployment Cells across 11 sites. By the end of 2025, we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total.
On 11 March, I announced the next steps in our plan, to allow us to go further and faster in removing FNOs. This includes expediting prisoner transfers with our priority partners such as Albania and the creation of a new taskforce across the HO and MoJ to change the way we process FNO cases radically.
We have also put in place short-term measures across the prison estate to expand useable capacity, while ensuring our prisons remain safe for staff and offenders.
The Government will continue to monitor the evolving situation with demand for prison places carefully, so that we can make sure we have the right approaches in place to maintain the capacity required for a safe and effective criminal justice system.
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 (a) officers and (b) other staff have been (i) investigated, (ii) arrested and (iii) charged in relation to (A) drug smuggling and (B) corruption at HMP Five Wells in the last 18 months.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
There is no place for any form of corruption or unacceptable behaviour in the Prison Service. Such behaviour is contrary to our core values and will not be tolerated. The Ministry of Justice’s Counter Corruption Unit and Tackling Unacceptable Behaviour Unit are working to ensure that professional standards of behaviour are maintained.
In relation to the various items of information requested, it is necessary to consider whether providing information in relation to a small number of cases could lead to the identification of individuals, in a way that would constitute a breach of our statutory obligations under data protection legislation. As we believe that the release of this information would risk such identification, it is not possible to provide the figures requested.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in prison are accommodated (a) alone in a cell intended to accommodate one person, (b) alone in a cell intended to accommodate two persons, (c) in a cell or dormitory intended to accommodate more than one person and (d) with another person in a cell intended for one person as of 26 February 2024.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The requested information has been provided in table form below. Please note that the sum of these populations does not match the recorded total population on the day. This is because some of the prisoners in (b) are also counted in (c). A prisoner could be the sole occupant in cell for 2 people and would be included in (b) and the same prisoner in the same cell would also be included in (c).
Categories | Number |
(a) alone in a cell intended to accommodate one person | 51701 |
(b) alone in a cell intended to accommodate two persons | 882 |
(c) in a cell or dormitory intended to accommodate more than one person | 13857 |
(d) with another person in a cell intended for one person | 22095 |
|
|
The determination of the maximum crowded capacity of a particular establishment is a matter of operational judgement, considering risks to safety and stability. In times of severe population pressure, establishments will be expected to hold as many prisoners as they can safely accommodate, but it is equally clear that that number should be determined by the operational managers responsible for managing the prison, not by a central process or by wider supply and demand issues.
We are delivering 20,000 additional modern uncrowded prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public. We have already delivered c.5,900 places including through our two new 1,700-place prisons, HMP Five Wells and HMP Fosse Way and we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total by the end of 2025.
We are also investing in our prisons to make them safer for both prisoners and staff by taking a preventative approach to safety, making key changes to the physical environment and testing new technology. We will continue to invest in critical prison maintenance and renewal to ensure that we keep as much capacity as possible in use and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1241 on Five Wells Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Five Wells in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1242 on Garth Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Garth in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1241 on Five Wells Prison: Education, how many staff of (a) HMPPS and (b) his Department's staff work on recovering money from education providers; and to what budget the money recovered is credited.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1244 on Pentonville Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Pentonville in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1243 on Bristol Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Bristol in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1245 on Ranby Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Ranby in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on delivering 20,000 additional prison places.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
So far, c.5,600 additional prison places have been delivered. This includes our two new c.1,700-place prisons: HMP Five Wells, which opened last year; and HMP Fosse Way, which opened in May. It also includes, among others, c.380 Rapid Deployment Cells now in place across six sites, c.350 places brought online by re-rolling HMP Morton Hall, and a workshop at HMP High Down to support 90 new places which was delivered ahead of schedule in March.
By the end of 2025, we will have delivered over 10,000 places in total. This will include our third new prison, HMP Millsike, delivering c.1,500 places, new houseblocks at HMP Stocken and HMP Guys Marsh, as well as hundreds more Rapid Deployment Cells.
We have secured outline planning permission for our fourth new prison, near the existing HMP Gartree in Leicestershire, which will deliver a further c.1,700 modern places.
We have also put in place short-term measures across the prison estate to expand useable capacity in the estate by an extra c.2,500 places since September 2022 while ensuring our prisons remain safe for staff and offenders.