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1675120

registered interest
date	04/12/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Overcrowding
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times a police cell was used as part of Operation Safeguard in 2023 by (a) region and (b) police force.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	5060
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2023 answer text <p>Operation safeguard is a planned contingency measure which was implemented in February 2023 and operated up until November 2023 in relation to the adult male estate. It is used to hold adult male prisoners in police custody suites temporarily as needed.</p><p>The tables below provide a breakdown of police cell usage as part of Operation Safeguard in 2023 by region and police force.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Police force</p></td><td><p>Number of cells</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="7"><p>North East</p></td><td><p>Humberside</p></td><td><p>80</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North Yorkshire</p></td><td><p>34</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South Yorkshire</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Yorkshire</p></td><td><p>93</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cleveland</p></td><td><p>105</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Durham</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Northumbria</p></td><td><p>145</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>485</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Police force</p></td><td><p>Number of cells</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="5"><p>South West</p></td><td><p>Avon &amp; Somerset</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Devon &amp; Cornwall</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dorset</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Gloucestershire</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wiltshire</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>6</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Police force</p></td><td><p>Number of cells</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="6"><p>Eastern</p></td><td><p>Bedfordshire</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cambridgeshire</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Essex</p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hertfordshire</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Norfolk</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Suffolk</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>17</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Police force</p></td><td><p>Number of cells</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="6"><p>North West</p></td><td><p>Cheshire</p></td><td><p>204</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cumbria</p></td><td><p>26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Greater Manchester</p></td><td><p>372</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lancashire`</p></td><td><p>261</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Merseyside</p></td><td><p>39</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North Wales</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>923</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Police force</p></td><td><p>Number of cells</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="5"><p>South East</p></td><td><p>Hampshire &amp; IOW</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Kent</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Surrey</p></td><td><p>24</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sussex</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Thames Valley</p></td><td><p>26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>58</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Police force</p></td><td><p>Number of cells</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="5"><p>East Midlands</p></td><td><p>Derbyshire</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Leicestershire</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lincolnshire</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Northamptonshire</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nottinghamshire</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>9</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Police force</p></td><td><p>Number of cells</p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="4"><p>Central</p></td><td><p>Staffordshire</p></td><td><p>29</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Warwickshire</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Mercia</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>51</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Police force</p></td><td><p>Number of cells</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London Met</p></td><td><p>London Met</p></td><td><p>136</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>136</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Police force</p></td><td><p>Number of cells</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>Dfyed-Powys</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Gwent</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>South Wales</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 07/12/2023 15:00:45 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1675124

registered interest
date	04/12/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probation Service: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many stress-related sick day absences were recorded for probation staff in Greater London in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	5064
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2023 answer text <p>The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information, including the number of working days lost for Probation Service staff by structure/division. The latest publication covers data up to 30<sup>th</sup> September 2023.</p><p> </p><p>Data for the number of probation staff who were absent due to stress-related sickness in Greater London is provided in table 1 below.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Number of working days lost due to stress for all Probation Service staff<sup>1</sup> in London, 01 January to 31 December 2021-2022 and 01 January to 30 September 2023 </strong></p><p><em>(Based on full time equivalence)</em></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Group</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>01 January to 31 Dec 2021<sup>2</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>01 January to 31 Dec 2022</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>01 January to 30 Sep 2023<sup>3</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Approved Premises - London</p></td><td><p>418</p></td><td><p>550</p></td><td><p>320</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London Probation Service</p></td><td><p>5,450</p></td><td><p>7,101</p></td><td><p>6,078</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>5,868</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>7,651</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>6,399</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><em>Notes:</em></p><p><em>1. Includes all staff employed in the Probation Service. A small number of staff in the Probation Service do not have probation grades.</em></p><p><em>2. In late June 2021, more than 7,000 staff from private sector Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) came together with probation staff already in the public sector in the new Probation Service</em></p><p><em>3. Latest published data is up to 30 September 2023 and so 2023 is not a full calendar year.</em></p><p><em><em>(p) Figures relating to current financial year are provisional and may be subject to change in future iterations of this publication.</em></em></p><p>We are focused on ensuring our staff have the support they need to manage workplace stress, including support for staff and managers such as Occupational Health and the Employee Assistance Programme. Staff are also able to access additional support through staff networks, staff support leads and the HMPPS network of Mental Health Allies.</p><p> </p><p>Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service. We have accelerated recruitment of trainee Probation Officers (PQiPs) to increase staffing levels, particularly in Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) with the most significant staffing challenges. As a result, over 4,000 PQiPs joined the service between 2020/21 and 2022/23 which we anticipate will start to directly impact reduction of caseloads. We continue to run centralised recruitment campaigns in priority regions to help bolster the number of applications and improve time to hire for key operational roles.</p><p>The Probation Service is in its second year of a multi-year pay deal for staff. Salary values of all pay bands will increase each year, targeted at key operational grades to improve a challenging recruitment and retention position.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 07/12/2023 16:42:56 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1675125

registered interest
date	04/12/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probation Service: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many stress-related sick day absences were recorded for probation staff in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	5065
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2023 answer text <p>The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information, including the number of working days lost for Probation Service staff. The latest publication covers data up to 30 September 2023.</p><p>Data for the number of probation staff who were absent due to stress-related sickness is provided in table 1 below.</p><p><strong>Table 1: Number of working days lost due to stress for all Probation Service staff<sup>1</sup>, 01 January to 31 December 2021-2022 and 01 January to 30 September 2023 </strong></p><p><em>(Based on full time equivalence)</em></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Working days lost</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>01 January to 31 December 2021<sup>2</sup></p></td><td><p>30,763</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>01 January to 31 December 2022</p></td><td><p>47,690</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>01 January to 30 September 2023<sup>3</sup></p></td><td><p>40,547</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes:<br>1. Includes all staff employed in the Probation Service. A small number of staff in the Probation Service do not have probation grades</p><p>2. In late June 2021, more than 7,000 staff from private sector Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) came together with probation staff already in the public sector in the new Probation Service. The increase in the 2022 data is partly accounted for by this increase in staffing.</p><p>3. Latest published data is up to 30 September 2023 and so 2023 is not a full calendar year.</p><p>(p) Figures relating to current financial year are provisional and may be subject to change in future iterations of this publication.</p><p> </p><p>We are focused on ensuring our staff have the support they need to manage workplace stress, including support for staff and managers such as Occupational Health and the Employee Assistance Programme. Staff are also able to access additional support through staff networks, staff support leads and the HMPPS network of Mental Health Allies.</p><p> </p><p>Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service and we have injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year to deliver more robust supervision, recruit thousands more staff and reduce caseloads to keep the public safer. The Probation Service is in its second year of a multi-year pay deal for its staff. Salary values of all pay bands will increase each year, targeted at key operational grades to improve a challenging recruitment and retention position. Positively, the Probation Service leaving rate was 9.8% in the 12 months to 30 September 2023, a decrease from the previous 12 months.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 08/12/2023 09:12:23 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1675129

registered interest
date	04/12/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison and Probation Service: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether staff below senior grade in HM Prisons and Probation Service have visited Estonia on official duties in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	5069
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2023 answer text <p>No junior HMPPS officials have visited Estonia in the last 12 months. As part of wider judicial cooperation HMPPS staff have visited several countries in the last 12 months to engage on a range of criminal justice priorities.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 07/12/2023 15:01:55 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1674587

registered interest
date	01/12/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Transgender People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Prison and Service Offender Equalities Annual Report 2022-23, published on 30 November 2023, how many and what proportion of transgender prisoners held in (a) England and (b) Wales were convicted of a sexual offence.
tabling member constituency	East Lothian
tabling member printed	Kenny MacAskill
uin	4852
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2023 answer text <p>We have strengthened our policy so that no transgender woman convicted of either a sexual or violent offence, or who retains male genitalia, can be held in the general women’s estate, other than in truly exceptional circumstances, which must be signed off by a minister.</p><p>A total of 100 transgender prisoners had a sexual offence as a principal offence and were housed in prison establishments across England and Wales on 31 March 2023.</p><p> </p><p>If a question is posed for information and the total figure amounts to five people or fewer, the MoJ must consider whether this would be likely to lead to the identification of individuals and whether disclosure of this information would be in breach of our statutory obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and/or the Data Protection Act 2018. We believe that the release of some of this information would be likely to lead to identification of the individuals concerned.</p><p> </p><p>For this reason, it is not possible to provide a split by legal gender (i.e., counts and percentages by legal gender male or legal gender female) or to provide a split by geography (i.e., counts and percentages in England and Wales).</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar grouped question UIN 4853 question first answered 07/12/2023 12:06:14 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4772 label Biography information for Kenny MacAskill

1674589

registered interest
date	01/12/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Transgender People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Prison and Service Offender Equalities Annual Report 2022-23, published on 30 November 2023, how many and what proportion of transgender prisoners convicted of a sexual offence were registered as (a) male and (b) female at birth.
tabling member constituency	East Lothian
tabling member printed	Kenny MacAskill
uin	4853
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2023 answer text <p>We have strengthened our policy so that no transgender woman convicted of either a sexual or violent offence, or who retains male genitalia, can be held in the general women’s estate, other than in truly exceptional circumstances, which must be signed off by a minister.</p><p>A total of 100 transgender prisoners had a sexual offence as a principal offence and were housed in prison establishments across England and Wales on 31 March 2023.</p><p> </p><p>If a question is posed for information and the total figure amounts to five people or fewer, the MoJ must consider whether this would be likely to lead to the identification of individuals and whether disclosure of this information would be in breach of our statutory obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and/or the Data Protection Act 2018. We believe that the release of some of this information would be likely to lead to identification of the individuals concerned.</p><p> </p><p>For this reason, it is not possible to provide a split by legal gender (i.e., counts and percentages by legal gender male or legal gender female) or to provide a split by geography (i.e., counts and percentages in England and Wales).</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar grouped question UIN 4852 question first answered 07/12/2023 12:06:14 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4772 label Biography information for Kenny MacAskill

1674478

registered interest
date	30/11/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Accommodation: Costs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost was of a prison place in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	4725
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2023 answer text <p>An average cost per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales are routinely published by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year.</p><p>Information on prison expenditure can be accessed in the Prison and Probation Performance Statistics pages for each financial year on the <a href="http://www.gov.uk" target="_blank">www.gov.uk</a> website that can be accessed on this link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics" target="_blank">Prison and Probation Performance Statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p>The average cost per prisoner place for the last five years is provided in the table below:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Financial Year</p></td><td><p>Average Cost Per Prisoner</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£37,543</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>£41,136</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>£42,670</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>£48,409</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>£47,434</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The 2022/23 figures have not yet been published.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 06/12/2023 12:37:28 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1674029

registered interest
date	29/11/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Officers: Labour Turnover
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase retention levels of experienced prison officers.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
uin	4563
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2023 answer text <p>In late 2021, the Ministry of Justice launched a retention toolkit to help Senior Leaders across HMPPS including Governors/Directors to tackle the main drivers of attrition in their departments and improve retention levels. We are using the data from enhanced exit interviews to better understand why experienced Prison Officers are leaving.</p><p> </p><p>We made a significant investment in pay for prison staff through the 2023/24 pay award. This delivered an increase in base pay of at least 7% for all staff between bands 2 to 5 which includes Prison Officers.</p><p> </p><p>Since April 2022, we have invested in several new initiatives to increase retention of our employees including Prison Officers. These include a new peer-to-peer learning scheme, the introduction of new staff mentors to support new Prison Officers in their roles, which takes the pressure off both experienced Prison Officers and managers, and a Career Pathways framework to enable staff to identify their development needs and career aspirations. We are also running supervision pilots in two prisons alongside the introduction of new leadership training, which will contribute to supporting career development and retention of experienced officers.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 08/12/2023 14:14:16 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1674094

registered interest
date	29/11/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Officers: Older Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers are aged over 63 as of 29 November 2023.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	4446
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2023 answer text <p>The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information, including number of staff in post by length of service and grade. The latest publication covers data for up to the period 30 September 2023. Information after this date has not yet been published and so data relating to any period after this date cannot be given.</p><p> </p><p>Data for the number of band 3-5 prison officers who were 63 or over as at 30 September 2023 is given as follows: there were 501 (headcount) band 3-5 prison officers in service within HM Prisons and Probation Service who were aged 63 or over as at 30 September 2023. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 05/12/2023 13:34:57 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1674096

registered interest
date	29/11/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Bedford Prison: Repairs and Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what maintenance work is required at HMP Bedford as of 29 November 2023.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	4447
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2023 answer text <p>HMPPS is continuing to invest in the prison estate to ensure that prisons remain safe and secure. The following works at HMP Bedford are in delivery or have been approved for future delivery: replacement of the segregation unit, fire safety upgrades across the prison, installation of CCTV in all ‘hot spot’ areas, installation of anti-ligature cells, replacement of window frames where necessary, installation of electrical points in constant watch cells electric points, rerouting of cell call bells, and repairs to burst hot water main.</p><p>In addition to the projects listed above, the establishment is also in the process of seeking approval a number of further works including: replacement of diesel-powered generator, provision of safe access to plant areas, installation of CCTV into E wing, refurbishment of gym showers, renewal of A &amp; C Wing flooring., refurbishment of main kitchen, heating system replacement, and window replacement.</p><p>We will shortly publish an action plan responding to the Urgent Notification issued by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on 17 November. This will set out what further measures we’re implementing, including maintenance activity, to drive wider improvements at HMP Bedford.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 06/12/2023 17:49:19 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury