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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

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

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

90363

	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 days each of the offenders who absconded from open conditions in 2014 had served there before they absconded.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	207931
	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 207932 question first answered 11/09/2014 14:43:46 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

90350

	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	Belmarsh Prison
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the waiting time is for a prisoner to be categorised at HM Prison Belmarsh.
	tabling member constituency	Erith and Thamesmead
	tabling member printed	Teresa Pearce
	uin	207875
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) policy on prisoner categorisation is set out in Prison Service Instruction 40/11 (Categorisation and Re-categorisation of adult male offenders). Policy requires that all adult male prisoners are assigned a security category within four working days of the prison receiving the information required for the assessment.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 10/09/2014 14:51:55 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	4003 label Biography information for Teresa Pearce

90351

	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	Belmarsh Prison
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of days was that a prisoner was held in HM Prison Belmarsh after being categorised as Category D before being moved to another prison in the latest period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Erith and Thamesmead
	tabling member printed	Teresa Pearce
	uin	207876
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) policy on prisoner categorisation is set out in Prison Service Instruction 40/11 (Categorisation and Re-categorisation of adult male offenders). Policy requires that all adult male prisoners are assigned a security category within four working days of the prison receiving the information required for the assessment.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the average number of days that a Category D prisoner is held in Belmarsh pending allocation to a Category D prison is not held centrally or routinely collated so could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Allocation will, in most cases, take longer than the categorisation process as it is based on a more thorough assessment of individual prisoner risks and sentence management needs. This must be completed before a prisoner is transferred to open conditions. It is not unusual for prisoners who have been recategorised to a lower category to be held in a prison of a higher security category pending further assessment; or, for example, where there is need to complete medical treatment or courses.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 10/09/2014 15:02:34 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	4003 label Biography information for Teresa Pearce

90357

	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Category D long-sentenced prisoners who have more than two years left to serve to earliest release date are currently in open conditions.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	207934
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>As at 30 June 2014, there were 24 determinate sentence prisoners held in open conditions with more than two years left to serve before their earliest release date and 18 indeterminate sentence prisoners in open conditions with more than two years left to serve before their tariff expiry[1].</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Those prisoners with at least two more years left before their earliest release will either be serving a determinate sentence of four years or more, or an indeterminate sentence with a minimum tariff of two years or more. The earliest date on which an indeterminate sentence prisoner (ISP) may be released from custody is on completion of “tariff” – that is, the minimum period to be served in custody, as determined by the Court, for the purposes of retribution and deterrence.</p><p>Progression to open conditions is never automatic and only follows a satisfactory assessment of the prisoner’s reduction in risk to a level that is manageable in conditions of lower security. The assessment will take account of issues including successful completion of any offending behaviour programmes identified as essential to the risk reduction process and any security intelligence or other information that provides evidence of the prisoner’s trustworthiness for open conditions. For determinate sentence prisoners, this assessment is carried out by an operational manager in the holding prison. For ISPs, it generally involves a recommendation by the independent Parole Board.</p><p> </p><p>Once allocated to open prison, prisoners continue to be monitored and are returned to closed prison immediately if there are any concerns about their suitability for such conditions.</p><p> </p><p>When a prisoner moves to the less rigid structure of open conditions an assessment of how the prisoner will adapt to increasing responsibility. For many prisoners, in particular those such as life sentence prisoners, who have spent a considerable amount of time in custody; these can be important components for successful reintegration in the community and therefore a mechanism to help protect the public by reducing the likelihood of reoffending.</p><br /><p>[1] Please note that these figures do not include prisoners held in open conditions in non-predominant function open prisons, nor those held in open sites that are part of multi-site establishments performing different functions, nor those held in small (under 50 place) open units at predominant function closed prisons. Women and young adults are included in the figures.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 17/11/2014 14:00:33 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

90349

	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	Prisons: Private Sector
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer grade staff were employed in each private sector prison in (a) March and (b) June 2014.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Dr Julian Huppert
	uin	207881
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Ministry of Justice and National Offender Management Service do not hold this staffing information on prisons run by private contractors. However, the private contractors have been contacted with a request for this information. I do not have this at the current time, but when I do receive it, I will write to you again with further information.</p><p> </p><p>It is a basic expectation of all prisons that they manage their staffing levels so that they are safe and able to provide appropriate custodial and other services.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 18/11/2014 16:04:03 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
	tabling member	3931 label Biography information for Dr Julian Huppert