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1284810

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Advisory Board on Female Offenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's announcement of 23 January 2021 entitled Extra funding for organisations that steer women away from crime, whether the Advisory Board on Female Offenders has been given access to his Department's modelling of demand for places in women's prisons.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	150738
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy set out the Government’s vision of fewer women offending and reoffending; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, with a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and where prison is necessary, better conditions for those in custody. The average female prison population in 2010 was 4236, compared to 3126 as of 29 January 2021 - a decrease of 26%. Delivery of the community commitments in our Strategy and in the recent Sentencing White Paper should see this trend continue in the long-term.</p><p>We published our latest population projections in November 2020, in which we included prison projections for four scenarios – the three police impact scenarios in response to the plan to recruit an additional 20,000 police offices and a fast court recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>At a meeting of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders (ABFO) on 21 January, attendees were informed that the additional police officers were expected to lead to an increase in the male and female prison populations, and that it was necessary to plan for this, to ensure that there were safe, decent and secure places to meet this demand. On 22 January 2021, in advance of the announcement on 23 January 2021, we informed all ABFO members that up to 500 new places, designed to meet the specific needs of women, will be built in existing prisons to increase availability of single cells and improve conditions as part of the 18,000 additional prison places programme. These places will enable us to hold more women closer to home and their families.</p><p>All ABFO members were invited to a workshop on 4 February, attended by the Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, to discuss and understand their views and concerns surrounding the women’s prison estate. During this session, we were able to provide further information on the scope of our work, and our future proposals. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as our plans develop.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 150739 150740 question first answered 11/02/2021 17:41:36 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1284811

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Advisory Board on Female Offenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Minister of State for Prison and Probation plans to meet with members of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders on plans to spend £150 million on 500 additional prison places for women.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	150739
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy set out the Government’s vision of fewer women offending and reoffending; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, with a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and where prison is necessary, better conditions for those in custody. The average female prison population in 2010 was 4236, compared to 3126 as of 29 January 2021 - a decrease of 26%. Delivery of the community commitments in our Strategy and in the recent Sentencing White Paper should see this trend continue in the long-term.</p><p>We published our latest population projections in November 2020, in which we included prison projections for four scenarios – the three police impact scenarios in response to the plan to recruit an additional 20,000 police offices and a fast court recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>At a meeting of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders (ABFO) on 21 January, attendees were informed that the additional police officers were expected to lead to an increase in the male and female prison populations, and that it was necessary to plan for this, to ensure that there were safe, decent and secure places to meet this demand. On 22 January 2021, in advance of the announcement on 23 January 2021, we informed all ABFO members that up to 500 new places, designed to meet the specific needs of women, will be built in existing prisons to increase availability of single cells and improve conditions as part of the 18,000 additional prison places programme. These places will enable us to hold more women closer to home and their families.</p><p>All ABFO members were invited to a workshop on 4 February, attended by the Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, to discuss and understand their views and concerns surrounding the women’s prison estate. During this session, we were able to provide further information on the scope of our work, and our future proposals. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as our plans develop.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 150738 150740 question first answered 11/02/2021 17:41:36 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1284813

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Advisory Board on Female Offenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which members of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders were (a) consulted on and (b) informed of the decision to build 500 additional prison places for women prior to the announcement of the 23 January 2021.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	150740
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy set out the Government’s vision of fewer women offending and reoffending; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, with a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and where prison is necessary, better conditions for those in custody. The average female prison population in 2010 was 4236, compared to 3126 as of 29 January 2021 - a decrease of 26%. Delivery of the community commitments in our Strategy and in the recent Sentencing White Paper should see this trend continue in the long-term.</p><p>We published our latest population projections in November 2020, in which we included prison projections for four scenarios – the three police impact scenarios in response to the plan to recruit an additional 20,000 police offices and a fast court recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>At a meeting of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders (ABFO) on 21 January, attendees were informed that the additional police officers were expected to lead to an increase in the male and female prison populations, and that it was necessary to plan for this, to ensure that there were safe, decent and secure places to meet this demand. On 22 January 2021, in advance of the announcement on 23 January 2021, we informed all ABFO members that up to 500 new places, designed to meet the specific needs of women, will be built in existing prisons to increase availability of single cells and improve conditions as part of the 18,000 additional prison places programme. These places will enable us to hold more women closer to home and their families.</p><p>All ABFO members were invited to a workshop on 4 February, attended by the Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, to discuss and understand their views and concerns surrounding the women’s prison estate. During this session, we were able to provide further information on the scope of our work, and our future proposals. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as our plans develop.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 150738 150739 question first answered 11/02/2021 17:41:36 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1284412

registered interest
date	05/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Construction
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sites for new prison developments are currently being considered by his Department; how many developments are being prepared for public consultation; and how many of those proposed developments are in the public consultation phase.
tabling member constituency	Buckingham
tabling member printed	Greg Smith
uin	149815
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2021 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is currently considering a number of sites for potential new prison developments, delivering a mix of places based on population type and category.</p><p> </p><p>We have received outline planning permission for one site, adjacent to the existing prison at HMP Full Sutton, and we are preparing for pre-planning public consultation for another two.</p><p> </p><p>There are no further sites currently undergoing public consultation. The pre-planning public consultation phase for our proposed new prison on land adjacent to HMP Grendon/Springhill formally started on 2 December 2020 and concluded on 29 January 2021. This was extended to accept any feedback received by email until 18:00 on Friday 5 February 2021, to ensure that all constituents had the opportunity to do so.</p><p> </p><p>Potential new prison sites will be made public should they progress to pre-planning public consultation or if we make a public announcement. However, they are currently exempt from disclosure due to commercial sensitivities and to protect the development/formulation of government policy.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 10/02/2021 17:16:32 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4778 label Biography information for Greg Smith

1284415

registered interest
date	05/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Buckinghamshire
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners held in (a) HMP Springhill and (b) HMP Grendon were resident in each postcode area of Buckinghamshire prior to their sentencing.
tabling member constituency	Buckingham
tabling member printed	Greg Smith
uin	149816
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2021 answer text <p>As at 31 December 2020 (latest data available), there were 7 prisoners held across HMPs Grendon and Springhill* who had a recorded home address in a Buckinghamshire local authority area.</p><p> </p><p>As at 31 December, there were 371 sentenced male and female prisoners aged 18 and over held in other prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales who had a recorded home address in a Buckinghamshire local authority area. However, most of these individuals were not suitable to be held in either Grendon or Springhill due to their security category, their time left to serve, their individual resettlement needs or their specific offending behaviour requirements, which are best provided at other prisons.</p><p> </p><p>Grendon and Springhill are both designated as national resources and can, at any time, reasonably expect to hold prisoners from across England and Wales. In the case of Grendon, this is because of the unique suite of interventions that they provide. In the case of Springhill, this is because there is not an even geographical spread of Open Prisons and, therefore, they are all designated as national resources. This means that, although every effort is made to ensure that most prisoners are in the closest Open Prison to their release address, this is not always in their home county.</p><p> </p><p>There are complex and wide-ranging issues involved in transferring and locating prisoners, and allocation decisions must reflect both the specific needs and circumstances of the prisoner, including their security category, as well as the operating environment and range of services at the receiving prison.</p><p> </p><p>HMPPS is committed to ensuring, where practicable, that prisoners are accommodated as close as possible to their resettlement communities and families. Whilst this is a priority, it is not always possible due to a variety of factors including wider population pressures, or where individuals have specific sentence planning needs which can only be met at certain establishments.</p><p> </p><p>* If a request is made for information and the total figure amounts to five people or fewer, the MoJ must consider whether this could lead to the identification of individuals and whether disclosure of this information would be in breach of our statutory obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018. For this reason, the MoJ has chosen not to provide an exact figure where the true number falls between one and five. The figures for HMP Grendon and HMP Springhill have therefore been presented as a composite and breakdowns by individual prison have not been provided.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 149817 question first answered 10/02/2021 16:26:24 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4778 label Biography information for Greg Smith

1284416

registered interest
date	05/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Buckinghamshire
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving sentences in each prison across the prison estate were resident in Buckinghamshire prior to their sentencing.
tabling member constituency	Buckingham
tabling member printed	Greg Smith
uin	149817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2021 answer text <p>As at 31 December 2020 (latest data available), there were 7 prisoners held across HMPs Grendon and Springhill* who had a recorded home address in a Buckinghamshire local authority area.</p><p> </p><p>As at 31 December, there were 371 sentenced male and female prisoners aged 18 and over held in other prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales who had a recorded home address in a Buckinghamshire local authority area. However, most of these individuals were not suitable to be held in either Grendon or Springhill due to their security category, their time left to serve, their individual resettlement needs or their specific offending behaviour requirements, which are best provided at other prisons.</p><p> </p><p>Grendon and Springhill are both designated as national resources and can, at any time, reasonably expect to hold prisoners from across England and Wales. In the case of Grendon, this is because of the unique suite of interventions that they provide. In the case of Springhill, this is because there is not an even geographical spread of Open Prisons and, therefore, they are all designated as national resources. This means that, although every effort is made to ensure that most prisoners are in the closest Open Prison to their release address, this is not always in their home county.</p><p> </p><p>There are complex and wide-ranging issues involved in transferring and locating prisoners, and allocation decisions must reflect both the specific needs and circumstances of the prisoner, including their security category, as well as the operating environment and range of services at the receiving prison.</p><p> </p><p>HMPPS is committed to ensuring, where practicable, that prisoners are accommodated as close as possible to their resettlement communities and families. Whilst this is a priority, it is not always possible due to a variety of factors including wider population pressures, or where individuals have specific sentence planning needs which can only be met at certain establishments.</p><p> </p><p>* If a request is made for information and the total figure amounts to five people or fewer, the MoJ must consider whether this could lead to the identification of individuals and whether disclosure of this information would be in breach of our statutory obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018. For this reason, the MoJ has chosen not to provide an exact figure where the true number falls between one and five. The figures for HMP Grendon and HMP Springhill have therefore been presented as a composite and breakdowns by individual prison have not been provided.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 149816 question first answered 10/02/2021 16:26:24 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4778 label Biography information for Greg Smith

1284417

registered interest
date	05/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the average distance travelled by prison officers and staff from their home to place of work.
tabling member constituency	Buckingham
tabling member printed	Greg Smith
uin	149818
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2021 answer text <p>The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 10/02/2021 16:28:11 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4778 label Biography information for Greg Smith

1284418

registered interest
date	05/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Grendon Prison and Spring Hill Prison: Public Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) staff and (b) visitors at (i) HMP Grendon and (ii) HMP Springhill arrive by public transport.
tabling member constituency	Buckingham
tabling member printed	Greg Smith
uin	149819
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2021 answer text <p>The information requested is not held.</p><p> </p><p>There is a bus service supporting the local area which can be used by both staff and visitors, however, the majority arrive by private car or taxi. The nearest train station to the prison is Bicester which is approximately 15-20 minutes away by taxi. The prison has the facility to use its own transport to do pick-ups, however, demand for this is currently low.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 10/02/2021 16:31:52 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4778 label Biography information for Greg Smith

1284192

registered interest
date	04/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Wales
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prison officers and (b) other staff members at (i) HMP Berwyn and (ii) other prisons in Wales are Welsh speaking.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	149308
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2021 answer text <p>HMPPS do not gather official statistics about the number of Welsh speaking staff in prisons. The below local information was collected by Equalities Leads in Wales in Jan 2021, however, this is subject to staff declaring themselves to be Welsh speakers. There is also varying levels of fluency among staff.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Public Sector Prison</p></td><td><p>Number of operational Welsh speaking Staff</p></td><td><p>Number of non-operational Welsh speaking staff</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HMP Berwyn</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HMP Cardiff</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HMP Swansea</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HMP Usk &amp; Prescoed</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>At HMP Parc, 32 operational staff and 26 non-operational staff are Welsh speakers.</p><p>We are working hard to increase the diversity of prison staff and making the recruitment process more accessible to new starters from a range of backgrounds, and we continue to welcome applications from Welsh speakers and in the Welsh language.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 09/02/2021 16:05:26 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

1283426

registered interest
date	03/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Officers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the net change in the number of prison officers in England was in (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
tabling member constituency	Luton South
tabling member printed	Rachel Hopkins
uin	148973
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2021 answer text <p>Prison officers play an essential role in keeping the public safe and protecting those in our care. The Staff in Post and net change in number of Band 3 to 5 prison<strong> officer</strong>s in England only is given in the following tables.</p><p> </p><p>As part of Prison Safety and Reform White Paper published in November 2016, the Prison Officer Recruitment Programme was tasked with delivering a net increase of 2500 prison officers by the end of the 2018 which accounts for the significant staffing increase at end September 2018. This recruitment target was achieved in early 2018 ahead of schedule.</p><p>We have continued to deliver recruitment campaigns to fill existing posts and vacancies arising due to attrition however, the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on social distancing and non-essential travel impacted on our ability to recruit and train new officers during 2020.</p><p>We have taken a range of measures to mitigate against further delays, including introducing a new online recruitment assessment centre and a targeted project to accelerate recruitment activity. In addition, HMPPS has also invited former prison officers to return to the service temporarily.</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Table 1 - Net change in number of Band 3-5 prison officers<sup>1</sup> in England<sup>2</sup> only</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dates</p></td><td><p>Net change in headcount</p></td><td><p>Net change in Full Time Equivalent</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>12 months to 30 September 2018</p></td><td><p>3,062</p></td><td><p>3,034</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>12 months to 30 September 2019</p></td><td><p>234</p></td><td><p>186</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>12 months to 30 September 2020</p></td><td><p>-680</p></td><td><p>-733</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2 – Number of Staff in Post of Band 3-5 prison officers<sup>1</sup> in England<sup>2</sup> only</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Dates</p></td><td><p>Headcount</p></td><td><p>Full Time Equivalent</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Staff in post as at 30 September 2018</p></td><td><p>22,193</p></td><td><p>21,420</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Staff in post as at 30 September 2019</p></td><td><p>22,427</p></td><td><p>21,606</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Staff in post as at 30 September 2020</p></td><td><p>21,747</p></td><td><p>20,873</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Notes to tables:</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2. Excludes Wales, which is usually included in published statistics.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 12/02/2021 14:48:05 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4873 label Biography information for Rachel Hopkins