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1716410

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Offenders: Litter
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press notice entitled Clean-up scheme expanded nationwide to tackle anti-social behaviour, published on 22 March 2024, how many offenders in England and Wales were ordered to carry out litter-clearing activities in support of the Great British Spring Clean from 17 March to 2 April 2024; and how many hours of litter-clearing activity were completed by those offenders.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	25188
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 13/05/2024 11:51:47 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

1715998

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Bail: Remote Hearings
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary on its decision to make second and subsequent bail applications remote by default.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	24910
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>It is standard practice not to comment on discussions between Ministers and the judiciary.</p><p>The Lord Chancellor is supportive of any efforts to help ensure sufficient capacity in the courts to hear bail applications and to remove principal structural barriers to applications being submitted, and he welcomes the revised guidance launched by Judicial Office which sets out that all second and subsequent bail applications to the Crown Court should be heard remotely unless ordered otherwise by a judge.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 13/05/2024 08:49:11 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1716036

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people serving an imprisonment for a Public Protection sentence were held in secure hospitals at the start of the last 20 quarters.
	tabling member constituency	Blackburn
	tabling member printed	Kate Hollern
	uin	24924
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>Under sections 47/49 of the Mental Health Act 1983, the Secretary of State may authorise by warrant the transfer of sentenced prisoners to a mental health hospital, where he is satisfied that the criteria for detention are met by the aforementioned Act. Thereby, and for the duration of the period in hospital, the transferred prisoner becomes what is known as a restricted patient.</p><p>The requested data in the tables below are taken from an electronic casework system. Snapshot data of restricted patients in hospital are available only at the end of each year. We have provided this information in Table 1 for 2019-2022. We are unable to recreate snapshot data, for the start of each of the last 20 quarters, due to limitations of the case management system.</p><p><strong>Table 1: Population of offenders serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) detained in hospital as a restricted patient on 31 December in each year from 2019-2023.</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Population of IPP Restricted Patients </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>272</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>276</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>292</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>262</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023</p></td><td><p>241</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Table 2:</strong> <strong>The number of offenders serving an IPP sentence who have been transferred from prison to secure hospitals on mental health grounds in each year since 2020.</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of transfers</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>56</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>41</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>44</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023</p></td><td><p>37</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Notes </strong></p><ol><li>These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording systems are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.</li><li>Where patients are admitted more than once, each admission is counted separately. This information does not count number of individual patients but instances of transfers.</li></ol><p><strong>Data Source: Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)</strong></p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar grouped question UIN 24926 question first answered 13/05/2024 11:49:00 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4363 label Biography information for Kate Hollern

1716160

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Offenders: Suicide
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence on licence in the community took their own life in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Blackburn
	tabling member printed	Kate Hollern
	uin	24925
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>The number of self-inflicted deaths of offenders serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence on licence in the community in England and Wales in each year between April 2019 and March 2023 are shown in the table.</p><p><strong>Self-inflicted deaths of offenders serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence supervised on licence in the community, financial year 2019/20 to 2022/23, England and Wales<sup> (1) (2) (3)</sup> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>2022/23<sup> (p)</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>(p) The 2022/23 figures are provisional and may be updated in future publications to account for any changes or additions to the data since they were originally collected.</p><p>1. Apparent cause is as reported in annual returns (prior to 2020/21 only) or the national Delius case management system (nDelius) and has not been independently verified.</p><p>2. The reporting period relates to when the death occurred.</p><p>3. A new set of death classifications was implemented on 1 April 2022 and, as such, figures for 2022/23 are not comparable to those presented for previous years. The category of 'self-inflicted death' up to 31 March 2022 includes any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life, irrespective of intent. The category of 'self-inflicted death' from 1 April 2022 includes any death of a person at their own hand, including where intent is undetermined. This includes some drug poisonings (e.g. where a suicide note is found or the circumstances are suspicious) but not drug poisonings which appear to have been the accidental result of consumption for another purpose. Refer to the guide to deaths of offenders supervised in the community statistics for further details about the new set of classifications.</p><p>The information for the period before April 2019 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 13/05/2024 11:49:55 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4363 label Biography information for Kate Hollern

1716162

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence have been transferred from prison to secure hospitals on mental health grounds in each year since 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Blackburn
	tabling member printed	Kate Hollern
	uin	24926
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>Under sections 47/49 of the Mental Health Act 1983, the Secretary of State may authorise by warrant the transfer of sentenced prisoners to a mental health hospital, where he is satisfied that the criteria for detention are met by the aforementioned Act. Thereby, and for the duration of the period in hospital, the transferred prisoner becomes what is known as a restricted patient.</p><p>The requested data in the tables below are taken from an electronic casework system. Snapshot data of restricted patients in hospital are available only at the end of each year. We have provided this information in Table 1 for 2019-2022. We are unable to recreate snapshot data, for the start of each of the last 20 quarters, due to limitations of the case management system.</p><p><strong>Table 1: Population of offenders serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) detained in hospital as a restricted patient on 31 December in each year from 2019-2023.</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Population of IPP Restricted Patients </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>272</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>276</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>292</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>262</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023</p></td><td><p>241</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Table 2:</strong> <strong>The number of offenders serving an IPP sentence who have been transferred from prison to secure hospitals on mental health grounds in each year since 2020.</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of transfers</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>56</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>41</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>44</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023</p></td><td><p>37</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Notes </strong></p><ol><li>These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording systems are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.</li><li>Where patients are admitted more than once, each admission is counted separately. This information does not count number of individual patients but instances of transfers.</li></ol><p><strong>Data Source: Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)</strong></p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar grouped question UIN 24924 question first answered 13/05/2024 11:49:00 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4363 label Biography information for Kate Hollern

1715799

	registered interest
	date	03/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Long Lartin Prison and Whitemoor Prison: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidences of (a) assault and (b) serious assault were committed against prison staff at (i) HMP Long Lartin and (ii) HMP Whitemoor in each of the last four years.
	tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
	tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
	uin	24757
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>We publish the number of assaults and serious assaults against prison staff, broken down by establishment, as part of our Safety in Custody statistics, in Table 8e and 8f of the summary tables, available at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/662a24fb690acb1c0ba7e57c/Safety-in-custody-summary-q4-2023_final_table.xlsx." target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/662a24fb690acb1c0ba7e57c/Safety-in-custody-summary-q4-2023_final_table.xlsx.</a></p><p>Totals for those occurring at HMP Long Lartin can be seen at row 94, and for HMP Whitemoor at row 151.</p><p>Improving the safety of staff and prisoners is our priority and while overall assault rates remain below pre-pandemic levels, we will continue to protect our hardworking staff through our £100 million security investment that led to X-ray body scanners, airport style security measures and drug dogs.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 13/05/2024 08:54:40 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1715800

	registered interest
	date	03/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Long Lartin Prison and Whitemoor Prison: Prison Officers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers were deployed on detached duty to (a) HMP Long Lartin and (b) HMP Whitemoor in each of the last four years.
	tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
	tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
	uin	24758
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>Staff are deployed on national detached duty (NDD) as a tactical response to support prisons which require it, to cover staffing shortfalls or to meet other operational requirements. NDD is a vital contingency measure to assist H M Prison &amp; Probation Service to maintain good order and security in prisons</p><p>The table below shows the average monthly deployment of full-time equivalent NDD staff to the two prisons between October 2022 and April 2024. HMP Whitemoor is no longer receiving NDD support. Except as shown in the table, no NDD staff were deployed to either site during the past four years.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Date</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>HMP Whitemoor</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>HMP Long Lartin</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct 2022</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>13.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nov 2022</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>36.25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec 2022</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>40.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan 2023</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb 2023</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>41</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mar 2023</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>37.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr 2023</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>44.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2023</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>61.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jun 2023</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>60.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul 2023</p></td><td><p>4.5</p></td><td><p>55.75</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Aug 2023</p></td><td><p>23.4</p></td><td><p>61.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep 2023</p></td><td><p>31.25</p></td><td><p>65.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct 2023</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>64</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nov 2023</p></td><td><p>31</p></td><td><p>65.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec 2023</p></td><td><p>28.5</p></td><td><p>57</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan 2024</p></td><td><p>27.5</p></td><td><p>46.75</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb 2024</p></td><td><p>23.2</p></td><td><p>32.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mar 2024</p></td><td><p>13.25</p></td><td><p>27.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr 2024</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>27</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 13/05/2024 11:47:14 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1715175

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prison Officers: Vacancies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department have made a risk assessment of prison officer vacancies in the Long Term High Security Estate.
	tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
	tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
	uin	24485
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>We closely monitor staffing levels across the estate via a number of internal governance forums, which assess the vacancy levels for individual prisons and across regions and functions, including the Long Term High Security Estate (LTHSE). Vacancies are one of a number of contributory factors that determine HMPPS' assessment of risk and stability within prisons. We will always ensure that prisons are sufficiently staffed to deliver safe and secure regimes. Where establishments feel that their staffing levels will affect stability or regime, including because of vacancies, there are a number of ways they can maximise the use of their own resource and seek support from other establishments in the short term, through processes managed nationally at Agency level. These include overtime payments and support via Detached Duty staff from other prisons.</p><p> </p><p>We are continuing recruitment activity at all sites with a current or future need, including in the LTHSE. Nationally, we have seen a substantial improvement in the national staffing picture within prisons over the past year. The number of Band 3-5 prison officers increased by 1,634 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between December 2022 and December 2023, and resignation rates have fallen over the same period. This is the result of significant efforts across the agency, including substantial increases in pay for staff, our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign, incentivized recruitment schemes where we incentivised applicants to relocate to ‘harder-to-staff’ sites, and the Prison Officer Alumni Network, where we have fast-tracked former staff back into the service.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 07/05/2024 11:24:44 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1715222

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prison Officers: Body Searches
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of prison officers who are searched upon entry to prison by an x-ray body scanner.
	tabling member constituency	Preseli Pembrokeshire
	tabling member printed	Stephen Crabb
	uin	24432
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>HM Prison and Probation Service does not currently have legal permission to use X-ray body scanners on staff working in prisons. As such, no prison officers are searched by an X-ray body scanner upon entry to prison.</p><p>All persons may be searched on entry to or within prisons, including prison staff. Arrangements for staff searching are set out in a prisons Local Security Strategy.</p><p>The vast majority of 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.</p><p>Through the Government’s £100 million Security Investment Programme (SIP) we have bolstered prison security, such as physical measures to stop illicit items from entering prisons. These include extending X-ray body scanners to all closed male prisons, and installing Enhanced Gate Security at 42 high risk sites with archway metal detectors and the regular use of sniffer dogs. We have also since installed X-ray baggage scanners at 49 establishments. Additionally, through SIP investment, we have introduced mobile phone blocking and detection capabilities. We have also expanded HMPPS’ Counter Corruption Unit to effectively support the resilience of our hardworking prison officers to coercion by criminals. Furthermore, we have enhanced our partnership working through the development of a Multi-Agency Response to Serious Organised Crime.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 10/05/2024 08:59:18 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	1554 label Biography information for Stephen Crabb

1715225

	registered interest
	date	01/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Drugs and Mobile Phones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the illegal entry of (a) drugs and (b) communication devices into prisons by prison staff.
	tabling member constituency	Preseli Pembrokeshire
	tabling member printed	Stephen Crabb
	uin	24433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>HM Prison &amp; Probation Service has a zero-tolerance policy of smuggling of contraband into prisons, such as drugs and mobile phones, including by staff. The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated.</p><p>We are determined to recruit the right people into our frontline positions, which is why they are subject to personnel security vetting which includes criminal record checks during the application process. Before taking up post, new recruits receive specific training to support them and ensure their resilience to corruption.</p><p>The £100 million Security Investment Programme (SIP) funded Enhanced Gate Security in 42 high risk sites, meaning we have counter-measures in place to detect and disrupt any staff attempting to smuggle contraband into prisons. The routine searching of staff, use of drug sniffer dogs and metal detectors acts as a deterrent against conveyance. SIP also funded mobile phone blocking and detection capabilities and drug detection units.</p><p>Appropriate action is taken towards the minority of staff who engage in corrupt activity. Whenever staff are suspected of wrongdoing, HMPPS’ Counter-Corruption Unit pursues disciplinary action or criminal convictions, working closely with the police.</p><p>We have recruited over 100 new staff into HMPPS’ Counter-Corruption Unit, which proactively detects, disrupts, and deters activities of those suspected of wrongdoing and supports prisons and probation services with specialist staff working alongside the police to support their investigations. Regional Prevent teams are dedicated to building staff resilience to corruption through training, awareness-raising and individual support.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 10/05/2024 13:56:19 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	1554 label Biography information for Stephen Crabb