Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults on prison officers have involved razors in the last year.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors in the last year could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors which have resulted in hospitalisation in the last year could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors that have resulted in prison officers leaving the service in the last year could also only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
We are committed to making prisons safe places to work and recognise the risks associated with the current wet shave razor provision. In the 2021 Prison Safety White Paper we committed to trial alternatives to wet shave razors, and during 2022 and 2023 six pilots have been carried out in the male estate and one in the female estate. The evaluation of these pilots will conclude in March 2024 and will inform decisions about future shaving provision in prisons.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults on prison officers involving razors have resulted in prison officers leaving the service in the last year.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors in the last year could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors which have resulted in hospitalisation in the last year could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors that have resulted in prison officers leaving the service in the last year could also only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
We are committed to making prisons safe places to work and recognise the risks associated with the current wet shave razor provision. In the 2021 Prison Safety White Paper we committed to trial alternatives to wet shave razors, and during 2022 and 2023 six pilots have been carried out in the male estate and one in the female estate. The evaluation of these pilots will conclude in March 2024 and will inform decisions about future shaving provision in prisons.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults on prison officers involving razors have resulted in hospitalisation in the last year.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors in the last year could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors which have resulted in hospitalisation in the last year could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors that have resulted in prison officers leaving the service in the last year could also only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
We are committed to making prisons safe places to work and recognise the risks associated with the current wet shave razor provision. In the 2021 Prison Safety White Paper we committed to trial alternatives to wet shave razors, and during 2022 and 2023 six pilots have been carried out in the male estate and one in the female estate. The evaluation of these pilots will conclude in March 2024 and will inform decisions about future shaving provision in prisons.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2024 to Question 13404 on Prison Officers: Youth Custody, what his planned timetable is for completing the development of the bespoke training for staff working with girls in Young Offender Institution and Secure Training Centre sectors.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) recognises that staff need additional training and support to work effectively with girls in custody. YCS Psychology Services conducted a staff training and development needs analysis which identified various gaps and made associated recommendations. As a result, a programme of additional training for working with girls in custody has been developed which incorporates various modules to meet the identified learning gaps.
Reflecting our commitment to integrated care set out in the YCS and NHS England Framework for Integrated Care (‘SECURE STAIRS’), delivery of the programme is cross-departmental and involves a number of agencies. Implementation has commenced, and the programme will remain in place to ensure the continuous upskilling of new staff. The training needs analysis will be continuously reviewed and updated as this programme proceeds, to ensure any emerging needs are addressed.
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.
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.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hours of compulsory corruption prevention training are undertaken by new prison officers during their basic training.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
All newly recruited prison officers receive a total of 8 hours of counter corruption training during their initial foundation training.
All HMPPS staff have access to an online e-learning platform called MyLearning. This platform enables staff to continue their professional development journey and offers additional learning which includes Basic Security Awareness and Counter Fraud, Bribery & Corruption. The Civil Service Expectations training package is also included on this platform which covers corruption, and is required learning for all HMPPS employees.
HMPPS have introduced a security investment programme that supports and strengthens staff resilience to corruption and provides ongoing awareness training for all staff
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been paid to prison officers at HMP Wandsworth as Payment Plus in each year since 1 January 2020.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
“Payment Plus” is a form of overtime, used to cover any vacancies and ensure that the minimum staffing level required by the Regime Management Plan is met, and that a safe and decent regime can be delivered.
HMP Wandsworth is being provided with continuing support through local detached duty staff and allocated “Payment Plus” hours. The prison regularly reviews the level of regime it is able safely to deliver and will continue to receive support as required.
The money spent on “Payment Plus” at HMP Wandsworth since 1 January 2020 is provided in the table below:
Period | Payment Plus (£)1 |
1 Jan 2020 – 31 Mar 2020 | 330,917 |
1 Apr 2020 – 31 Mar 2021 | 975,818 |
1 Apr 2021 – 31 Mar 2022 | 860,960 |
1 Apr 2022 – 31 Mar 2023 | 1,261,456 |
1 Apr 2023 – 31 Jan 2024 | 1,209,806 |
1These are provisional figures, which may include work at other establishments by staff based at HMP Wandsworth.
We have committed to recruiting up to 5,000 additional prison officers across public and private prisons by the mid-2020s.
There has been a fall in the resignation rate among Band 3-5 officers, of 2.4 percentage points in the year up to 30 December 2023 compared to the previous year.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons offer bonuses for detached duty volunteers; and how many officers have been paid bonuses in each prison in the last 12 months.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The following prisons currently attract a bonus for National Detached Duty volunteers;
HMP Bedford, HMP Bullingdon, HMP Bristol, HMP Cookham Wood, HMP Long Lartin, HMP Lowdham Grange, HMP Onley, HMP Stocken, HMP Swaleside, HMP Wayland, HMP Whitemoor, HMP Woodhill.
In the 12 months to 27 February 2024, 1146 bonus payments were made to prison officers at Bands 3-5 for national detached duty. Some staff have completed more than one detached duty deployment and separate bonuses are paid for each deployment. Detached duty deployments range from two to twelve weeks.
It is not possible, without incurring disproportionate cost, to collate the information needed to calculate how many individuals in each prison received bonus payments during the period.
We have committed to recruiting up to 5,000 additional prison officers across public and private prisons by the mid-2020s.
There has been a fall in the resignation rate among Band 3-5 officers of 2.4 percentage points in the year to 30 December 2023 compared to the previous year.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information does his Department collect on the method of attack used against prison officers following an assault.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We publish statistics on the number of total assaults, broken down by type of weapon, as part of our Safety in Custody statistics. Table 3.10 at this link includes figures for assaults by weapon: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b0e9f0f2718c0014fb1c2a/safety-in-custody-assaults-dec-22.xlsx.
The categories in the linked table above are what the MoJ collects on the method of attack.
We also hold data broken down by victim of these assaults, which we hold for staff, including for prison officers only.
Please note that assaults on staff are a subset of all assault incidents. Some assault incidents may be recorded as both a prisoner-on-prisoner assault and an assault on staff. Therefore, a breakdown of incidents involving weapons may also include some incidents where a weapon was used to assault a prisoner, but a staff member was also assaulted during the incident without the use of a weapon. It would not be possible to differentiate these incidents and produce a table of incidents where a weapon was used to assault a staff member, without review of the free text describing each incident