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61896

	registered interest
	date	13/06/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Agency Workers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on agency workers to cover uniformed operational support staff in each month since January 2014.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	200709
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Since April 2010 we have cut our overall spend on temporary staff by £35.5m. We only use temporary staff to fill business-critical posts and essential frontline services where they can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not currently available in-house. We will continue to examine our use of contractors and look for further reductions.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In responding to each question we have utilised data provided by our contracted supplier of temporary clerical staff and contracted supplier of temporary operational staff. As the data provided has been supplied by two different third parties there is a slight difference in the way that the answer to question 3 and 4 has been presented.</p><p> </p><p>Temporary operational staff relate to Operational Support Grades (OSGs) used within HM Prison Service. We have contracts in place to provide temporary OSGs to fill in gaps in requirements, for building projects or to fill vacancies short term. Temporary OSGs are a very small proportion of our staff complement.</p><p> </p><p>Uniform operational support staff are Operational Support Grades (OSGs).These are uniformed staff who undertake a wide range of duties in prisons, for example operating prison gates, working in security and managing stores areas. They also escort contractors and their vehicles.</p><p> </p><p>1) The following amounts (exclusive of VAT) have been spent on clerical agency staff across -</p><p> </p><p>January 2014 - £2,983,633.14 (5 week period)</p><p>February 2014 - £2,613,023.10 (4 week period)</p><p>March 2014 - £2,591,678.87 (4 week period)</p><p>April 2014 - £2,900,742.70 (5 week period)</p><p>May 2014 - £2,398,053.57 (4 week period)</p><p>June 2014 - £658,700.28 (1 week period)</p><p> </p><p>2) The following amounts (exclusive of VAT) have been spent on uniform operational support staff –</p><p> </p><p>January 2014 - £1,082,247 (5 week period)</p><p>February 2014 - £1,420,329 (4 week period)</p><p>March 2014 - £1,137,834 (4 week period)</p><p>April 2014 - £1,249,908 (4 week period)</p><p>May 2014 - £2,282,468 (5 week period)</p><p> </p><p>The spend for May 2014 also includes the backdated annual pay rise for eligible workers from 1<sup>st</sup> April 2014.</p><p> </p><p>3) The following number of clerical agency staff have been utilised –</p><p> </p><p>January 2014 - 1571 (Average headcount)</p><p>February 2014 - 1634 (Average headcount)</p><p>March 2014 - 1624 (Average headcount)</p><p>April 2014 - 1578 (Average headcount)</p><p>May 2014 - 1644 (Average headcount)</p><p>June 2014 - 1674 (Average headcount)</p><p> </p><p>4) The following number of uniform operational support staff have been utilised –</p><p> </p><p>January 2014 - 697 (Peak worker number)</p><p>February 2014 - 845 (Peak worker number)</p><p>March 2014 - 867 (Peak worker number)</p><p>April 2014 - 853 (Peak worker number)</p><p>May 2014 - 855 (Peak worker number)</p><p>June 2014 - Peak worker number not available yet.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous grouped question UIN 200710 200711 question first answered 21/10/2014 16:31:41 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous previous answer version 2385 answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright answering member 1560
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

90352

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Young Offender Institutions: Bullying
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of victims of bullying in youth custody institutions who suffer from mental health issues.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	207909
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Bullying is taken very seriously across the youth estate. All youth custody establishments must have an anti-bullying policy and safeguarding arrangements in place which address both the causes and effects of bullying. The safety of young people and approaches for managing challenging behaviour in custody are monitored by the Youth Justice Board and independent inspectorates.</p><p> </p><p>Data on the number of incidents of bullying in youth custody institutions are collected by individual establishments in order to assist them in managing bullying but information is not held centrally. Whilst healthcare providers will have data about mental health issues, this information is not held centrally and is not routinely collected alongside bullying information.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous grouped question UIN 207903 207907 question first answered 16/09/2014 15:45:35 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

90360

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Young Offender Institutions: Bullying
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to prevent bullying in the youth custody environment.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	207907
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Bullying is taken very seriously across the youth estate. All youth custody establishments must have an anti-bullying policy and safeguarding arrangements in place which address both the causes and effects of bullying. The safety of young people and approaches for managing challenging behaviour in custody are monitored by the Youth Justice Board and independent inspectorates.</p><p> </p><p>Data on the number of incidents of bullying in youth custody institutions are collected by individual establishments in order to assist them in managing bullying but information is not held centrally. Whilst healthcare providers will have data about mental health issues, this information is not held centrally and is not routinely collected alongside bullying information.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous grouped question UIN 207903 207909 question first answered 16/09/2014 15:45:35 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

90365

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Young Offender Institutions: Bullying
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of incidents of bullying in youth custody institutions in each year since May 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	207903
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Bullying is taken very seriously across the youth estate. All youth custody establishments must have an anti-bullying policy and safeguarding arrangements in place which address both the causes and effects of bullying. The safety of young people and approaches for managing challenging behaviour in custody are monitored by the Youth Justice Board and independent inspectorates.</p><p> </p><p>Data on the number of incidents of bullying in youth custody institutions are collected by individual establishments in order to assist them in managing bullying but information is not held centrally. Whilst healthcare providers will have data about mental health issues, this information is not held centrally and is not routinely collected alongside bullying information.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous grouped question UIN 207907 207909 question first answered 16/09/2014 15:45:33 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

89799

	registered interest
	date	29/08/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners' Transfers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many determinate sentence prisoners with more than two years to serve to their earliest release date were moved to open prisons in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2011-12.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	207334
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Determinate sentence prisoners are not allocated to open prisons with more than two years to serve to their expected release date.</p><p> </p><p>Categorisation and allocation to open prison is never an automatic progression. Public protection is foremost in the decision making process. Only prisoners who have successfully completed offending behaviour essential to their risk reduction and whose risks are manageable in conditions of low security will be allowed to an open prison.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 04/09/2014 16:23:14 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

90358

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners' Release
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners re-categorised as suitable for Category D who were over two years from their earliest release date were sent to open conditions in the last year.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	207933
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer my predecessor gave in June. We do not centrally hold data on the number of prisoners transferred from closed to open prisons for the time period requested or the time left to serve at the point of recategorisation and allocation to the open estate. Consequently, the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, as it would involve a manual trawl through the records of every prisoner transferred to an open prison in the last year to identify if they were over two years from their earliest release date at the point of recategorisation and then allocation to an open prison.</p><p> </p><p>Two years is considered to be the maximum time a prisoner should spend in open conditions. However, assessment of a prisoner’s individual risks and needs may support earlier categorisation to open conditions. Such cases must have the reasons for their categorisation fully documented and confirmed in writing by the Governing Governor.</p><p> </p><p>Categorisation and allocation to open prison is never an automatic progression. Public protection is foremost in the decision making process. Only prisoners who have successfully completed offending behaviour work essential to their risk reduction and whose risks are manageable in conditions of low security will be allocated to an open prison.</p><p /> <p>The earliest date on which an indeterminate sentence prisoner may be released from custody is on completion of his “tariff” – that is, the minimum period to be served in custody, as determined by the Court, for the purposes of retribution and deterrence. These prisoners do not have fixed release dates, so even if the data on transfers was readily available, it would not be possible to identify a length of time left to be served in these cases. The vast majority of indeterminate sentence prisoners will be transferred to open conditions only on a positive recommendation from the independent Parole Board. Where they can show that they have made exceptional progress and where there are no known or documented concerns about their risk of harm or risk of abscond, they may be transferred without a positive recommendation from the Parole Board.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 11/09/2014 16:13:42 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

91073

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Probation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will place in the Library a copy of the assessment of the Major Projects Authority on his plans for the Probation Service.
	tabling member constituency	Warrington North
	tabling member printed	Helen Jones
	uin	208483
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>It is standard practice for the Major Projects Authority (MPA) to undertake assessments of major projects and programmes, such as the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reforms to the Probation Service. The MPA has had full access to the TR programme documentation, and the MPA’s assessments, which are focused on assuring delivery of the reforms, are provided in confidence to the programme leadership. In order not to prejudice commercial interests, there are no plans to publish the MPA assessment in the House of Commons Library.</p><p> </p><p>The programme of reforms is on track. We are currently managing the competition which will appoint the owners of the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). We have a healthy competition across all areas with over 80 bidders and an average of 4 bidders per contract package area. Bids are currently being rigorously assessed, and we are on track to announce the contract winners for each CRC by the end of 2014.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 11/09/2014 15:42:36 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	432 label Biography information for Helen Jones

91319

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Probation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what domestic violence training programmes are available for probation staff; and how many probation staff have undertaken domestic violence training in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	208827
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Prior to 1 June 2014 when the National Probation Service (NPS) was set up along with 21 community rehabilitation companies (CRCs), 35 independent Probation Trusts were responsible for commissioning specialist training such as domestic violence for probation staff.</p><p> </p><p>Since June 2014, a new National Probation Training team has been set up for NPS.</p><p> </p><p>Currently, the National Offender Management Service is commissioning a new domestic abuse package to reflect recent changes in practice and ensure a consistent national standard of training. In the interim, the seven NPS divisions are continuing to deliver their own local domestic violence training packages.</p><p> </p><p>Training is also available for probation officers to use a specific tool for assessing the risk of domestic abuse and to case manage offenders subject to domestic violence programmes.</p><p> </p><p>Before June 2014 there were 35 Probation Trusts, which have now been replaced by the NPS and the CRCs. Information is not available centrally on the number of staff in the former probation trusts who have undertaken domestic violence training in the last 12 months as this was held at a local level.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 24/09/2014 11:57:54 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

76894

	registered interest
	date	09/07/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Open Prisons
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners who were liable for deportation (a) applied for and (b) were refused Category D prison status in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	204755
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Prisoners liable to any type of enforcement proceedings are risk assessed very carefully to ensure they are suitable for open conditions. On 13 August 2014 we amended the Prison and YOI Rules so that prisoners who have a Deportation Order served against them and have exhausted their rights of appeal from within the UK can no longer be moved to open conditions or considered for temporary release.</p><p>Prisoners who have not yet been served with a Deportation Order, but are being considered by the Home Office for removal from the UK, are now subject to a more rigorous assessment before being considered for open conditions or temporary release to ensure that they are of very low risk of absconding.</p><p>To provide information on the number and proportion of prisoners who were liable for deportation and had applied for, and were refused Category D/open conditions status in each of the last five years could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 04/09/2014 16:45:00 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

90361

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Open Prisons: Prisoner Escapes
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many years left to serve has each determinate sentence prisoner who absconded from open conditions in the last year.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	207932
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Progression to open prison is never automatic and only those prisoners who are assessed as a low risk of harm to the public and a low risk of abscond will be held in open conditions. Prisoners serving longer sentences may be allocated to open prison towards the end of their sentence but only where they have successfully completed relevant offending behaviour work that is judged to have reduced any risks. In the case of ISPs this generally involves a recommendation from the Parole Board. The table below shows how many days each offender had been in open conditions prior to the date of abscond.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Number of days served in open prison prior to absconding, January 2014 to March 2014</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Time since arrival</p></td><td><p>Number of absconders</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>On day of arrival</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1st or 2nd full day</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>3 days to 7 days</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>8 days to 30 days</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 days to 3 months (90 days)</p></td><td><p>24</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>3 months to 6 months (91 to 182 days)</p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>6 months to 1 year</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Over 1 year</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Figures from April 2014 onwards are not yet available. Over 97% of prisoners who abscond are re-captured and returned to custody.</p><p> </p><p>Absconds have reached record lows under this Government. Abscond levels are down 80% over the last 10 years.</p><p> </p><p>The sentence length at the time of the abscond is not readily available for all absconds in 2013/14. As sentences can change due to further criminal or prison offences it would be necessary to write out to each establishment and analyse each prisoner’s records to determine the remaining sentence length at the time of the abscond. This could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Figures for the number of absconds, by prison, since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-201314" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-201314</a></p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous grouped question UIN 207931 question first answered 11/09/2014 14:43:47 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham