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1715803

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	Crown Court: ICT
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 potential additional cost to the public purse for the continued use of the digital case management system as well as Common Platform by Crown Courts.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	24756
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>Whilst the detailed allocation of funding to HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) for 2024/25 is still being finalised, the annual support cost for Digital Case Management system is expected to be £0.6 million for the foreseeable future, plus another £0.4 million to complete work on an interface between this and Common Platform in 2024/25.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 09/05/2024 14:23:05 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

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

1715226

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: Wales
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison (a) officers and (b) other staff have been (i) investigated and (ii) dismissed in relation to (a) the conveyance of drugs and (b) conducting inappropriate relationships with prisoners in Wales in each year since 2019.
tabling member constituency	Preseli Pembrokeshire
tabling member printed	Stephen Crabb
uin	24434
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>In each year since 2019, there have been 2 staff in Welsh prisons who were investigated or recommended for dismissal for trafficking through internal disciplinary procedures.</p><p>Data relating to staff investigated or recommended for dismissal for having an inappropriate relationship with prisoners/ex-prisoners is held and is provided in table 1 below. The annual HMPPS staff equalities report covers staffing information, including investigations and conduct &amp; disciplinary action, and the latest publication covers data up to 31 March 2023. This data does not include criminal investigations of prison officers or staff by law enforcement.</p><p><strong>Table 1: HMPPS staff in Public Sector Prisons<sup>1</sup> in Wales who were (i) investigated<sup>2</sup> and (ii) recommended for dismissal<sup>3,4 </sup>for having an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner/ex-prisoner<sup>5</sup>, in each financial year from 2018/19 to 2022/23<sup>6(p)</sup></strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Financial year</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Band 3-5 prison officers<sup>7</sup></strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>All other prison staff</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Headcount of staff investigated</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Headcount of staff recommended for dismissal</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Headcount of staff investigated</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Headcount of staff recommended for dismissal</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022/23</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td><td><p>~</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes</p><p>1. Excludes any privately managed prisons.</p><p>2. Figures relate to formal investigations with an outcome recorded in the year. Staff subject to at least one investigation that was concluded during the year.</p><p>3. Conduct and discipline cases are defined as where a penalty has been imposed on a member of HMPPS staff for a reason of conduct. Staff with at least one conduct and discipline case concluded during the year.</p><p>4. A dismissal case is defined as where at least one of the charges relating to an individual is recommended for dismissal. Information on the outcomes of any appeal is not included.</p><p>5. Allegations which meet a criminal threshold will be referred to the Police for investigation. If a criminal justice outcome is secured, this will result in a summary dismissal as per PSI 10/2016 Conduct and Discipline and will not be recorded against a specific ‘type’ of misconduct in the Conduct and Discipline data. 6. Financial year runs from 01 April to 31 March. Latest published data on Investigations is up to 31 March 2023. 7. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.</p><p>~ denotes suppressed values of 2 or fewer or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction. Low numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2018.</p><p>(p) Provisional data. There may be minor changes to figures in future due to additional data being recorded on the reporting system.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 10/05/2024 13:58:39 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	1554 label Biography information for Stephen Crabb

1715310

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: Fires
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison cell fires there were, broken down by institution, in each year since 2015.
tabling member constituency	Mitcham and Morden
tabling member printed	Dame Siobhain McDonagh
uin	24357
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>The attached table shows the number of fire incidents in each prison in each year since 2016. Information about fire incidents before 2016 is not available, because the records, which were held locally, have been destroyed in line with our retention policy. In 2016, a new centralised national system for recording fire incidents was introduced across the prison estate.</p><p>The overwhelming majority of the cell fires in prisons are classified as small and are quickly dealt with by staff. All prisons have an Arson Reduction Strategy which includes measures for managing prisoners who are known to present a risk of fire setting: these measures include strategic cell location, and control of access to ignition sources and combustible materials. In 2024-25, H M Prison &amp; Probation Service will introduce an ignition-free Safer Vape Pen to replace the existing product, which is the source of approximately 80 per cent of fires set.</p><p>All operational staff receive training in responding to fire incidents, including the use of specialist safety and firefighting equipment. Where it is found that a fire is the result of arson, or recklessness, the prisoner responsible will face robust punitive action, which can include further criminal charges.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 10/05/2024 08:46:05 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar attachment 1 file name 2024-05-13 PQ 24357 table.docx title PQ_24357_table
tabling member	193 label Biography information for Dame Siobhain McDonagh

1715321

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	Community Orders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have taken part in his Department's Intensive Supervision Courts pilot.
tabling member constituency	Mitcham and Morden
tabling member printed	Dame Siobhain McDonagh
uin	24368
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>In June 2023, we launched three Intensive Supervision Courts to divert offenders away from short custodial sentences and tackle the root causes of their offending, two at Liverpool and Teesside Crown Courts for offenders with substance misuse needs, and one focused on female offenders at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court. As of March 2024, 84 offenders have engaged with the Intensive Supervision Court pilot. These pilot sites are legislated to sentence for 18 months and are subject to a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 10/05/2024 08:47:04 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	193 label Biography information for Dame Siobhain McDonagh

1715326

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: Offensive Weapons
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a breakdown by weapons type of weapons incidents in prisons since 2015.
tabling member constituency	Mitcham and Morden
tabling member printed	Dame Siobhain McDonagh
uin	24373
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>The number of incidents of assaults involving weapons, broken down by weapon type, can be found in table 3.10 of the following link (taken from the published ‘Safety in Custody statistics quarterly update to December 2023’): <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6626542a1cbbb3400ba7e524/safety-in-custody-assaults-dec-23.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6626542a1cbbb3400ba7e524/safety-in-custody-assaults-dec-23.xlsx</a>.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 10/05/2024 15:35:04 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	193 label Biography information for Dame Siobhain McDonagh

1715328

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	Reoffenders: Community Orders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders who received a community sentence in each of the last five years had previously received (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five or more community sentences.
tabling member constituency	Mitcham and Morden
tabling member printed	Dame Siobhain McDonagh
uin	24375
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>In many cases – particularly for lower-level offending – there is persuasive evidence that sentences served in the community, are more effective than short custodial sentences in reducing reoffending and rehabilitation in certain circumstances.</p><p>The Department’s statistics show that 55% of those released from prison after serving a custodial sentence of less than twelve months were convicted for a proven offence in the following 12 months. This compares to 32% of those serving a sentence in the community (community order or suspended sentence order): <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics" target="_blank">Proven reoffending statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p>The information requested is provided in the table attached. The information supplied has been sourced from a retrieval from the Police National Computer database.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 10/05/2024 08:51:23 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar attachment 1 file name 2024-05-13 PQ 24375 table.xlsx title PQ_24375_table
tabling member	193 label Biography information for Dame Siobhain McDonagh

1715329

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	Reoffenders: Community Orders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders breached the terms of their community order in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Mitcham and Morden
tabling member printed	Dame Siobhain McDonagh
uin	24376
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>We are investing £155 million in funding each year into the Service and recruited over 4000 new probation officers since reunification of the Probation Service in 2021 to deliver better and more consistent supervision of offenders in the community.</p><p>Delivering public protection and cutting crime is not just about custody. There is persuasive evidence that suspended and community sentences are more effective than short custodial sentences in reducing reoffending and promoting rehabilitation. These sentences can include a range of robust requirements to punish the offender, protect the public and deliver rehabilitation. Electronic monitoring of curfews, exclusion zones, attendance at appointments, location monitoring and alcohol bans are all available requirements which the courts can use. To make sure that offenders are visibly and publicly making reparations for their crimes, courts can impose up to 300 hours of unpaid work.</p><p>Any breach of these requirements could see them returned to court and face immediate custody.</p><p>Please note that where there is a significant risk of harm to an individual or where the offender has breached an order of the court, the courts will retain full discretion to impose a sentence of immediate custody.</p><p>Please see attachment for the information requested.</p><p><strong>Data sources and quality</strong></p><p>The figures in this table have been drawn from the Delius case management system which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.</p><p><strong>Source</strong>: Offender Mangement Statistics Quarterly Bulletin: October to December 2023</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 10/05/2024 08:56:17 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar attachment 1 file name 2024-05-13 PQ 24376 table.xlsx title PQ_24376_table
tabling member	193 label Biography information for Dame Siobhain McDonagh