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1147755

registered interest
date	02/10/2019
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, what assessment he has made of the trends in the number of fire events in prisons in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	293568
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/10/2019 answer text <p>We will never compromise on the safety of those in our care, and staff are trained to respond to emergency situations in a timely, appropriate manner. The Government is taking unprecedented action to improve safety in custody. We have invested significantly in increased staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,366 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500. We will continue to recruit officers to ensure prisons are safe and decent.</p><p> </p><p>The table below provides the numbers of all fires in prisons between 2016 – 2018. Data prior to 2016 was not collected centrally and, as such, no reliable data before that time exists. However, the figures below show a significant fall in the number of fires in 2018, which coincides with the implementation of smoke free prisons and our actions to improve safety in custody.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of fires</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Reduction as a percentage of previous year’s total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>Data not available</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>Data not available</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>2,314</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>2,287</p></td><td><p>1.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>1,517</p></td><td><p>50.1%</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 293574 question first answered 07/10/2019 14:47:25 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1147756

registered interest
date	02/10/2019
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, whether vape pens have been used to start fires in prisons; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	293569
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/10/2019 answer text <p>There is evidence, as part of wider data collected on fires in prisons, which confirms vape pens have been used as a source of ignition.</p><p> </p><p>We will never compromise on the safety of those in our care, and staff are trained to respond to emergency situations in a timely, appropriate manner. The Government is taking unprecedented action to improve safety in custody. We have invested significantly in increase staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,366 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500. We will continue to recruit officers to ensure prisons are safe and decent.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 07/10/2019 16:22:38 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1147758

registered interest
date	02/10/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Arson
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many national prison arson reduction workshops have been held in each of the last 12 quarters; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	293570
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/10/2019 answer text <p>We will never compromise on the safety of those in our care, and staff are trained to respond to emergency situations in a timely, appropriate manner. The Government is taking unprecedented action to improve safety in custody. We have invested significantly in increasing staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,366 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500. We will continue to recruit officers to ensure prisons are safe and decent.</p><p> </p><p>The continued reduction of fires across the prison estate is of significant importance to HMPPS with an inaugural national arson reduction workshop held in April 2019. The objectives of the workshop were to develop national good practice to prevent fire setting, and to form an Arson Reduction Working Group. The Working Group met in June and will meet again this month.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 07/10/2019 16:17:45 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1147761

registered interest
date	02/10/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Fire Prevention
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many enforcement notices have been issued in relation to prison fire safety arrangements in each of the last 12 quarters; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	293571
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/10/2019 answer text <p>The table below provides the numbers of enforcement notices have been issued in relation to prison fire safety arrangements in each of the last 12 quarters.</p><p>We take any such enforcement notices seriously and produce an action plan to ensure that compliance is quickly achieved whenever they are issued.</p><p>We are taking urgent action to improve safety and decency in our prisons, including spending up to £2.5 billion to create a modern and efficient estate fit for the future.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Quarter 1 </strong> <strong>(Jan- Mar)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Quarter 2 </strong> <strong>(Apr-Jun)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Quarter 3 </strong> <strong>(Jul-Sep)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Quarter 4 </strong> <strong>(Oct-Dec)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 07/10/2019 16:09:18 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1137549

registered interest
date	08/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the target waiting time is for benefit tribunals; and what the timeframe is for that target to be met.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	274534
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice has not set a target waiting time for benefit appeals to be heard in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction. This is because waiting times fluctuate geographically owing to a number of factors including venue capacity, the volumes of benefit decisions made locally, the complexity of the case and the availability of panel members. Furthermore, the listing of appeals, including consideration of whether a hearing should be expedited, is a function of the Tribunal’s judiciary. There are also no targets for staffing levels for medical members, disability qualified members or judges in the SSCS jurisdiction. Levels are set based on forecast receipts to the SSCS jurisdiction, outstanding workload, and venue capacity.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HCMTS) is taking positive steps to reduce the waiting time for appeals to be heard in the SSCS jurisdiction. In 2018, 232 medical members and 118 disability-qualified members were additionally appointed to the SSCS jurisdiction and an extra 129 fee-paid judges have recently been appointed. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from 100 salaried judges and 170 fee-paid judges being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, HMCTS is developing a new digital system with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Case-management “triage” sessions are also being conducted, with the aim of reducing the number of cases that need to progress to an oral hearing.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 274535 question first answered 17/07/2019 17:10:49 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1137550

registered interest
date	08/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February to Question 221635, what the target staffing levels are for (a) medical members, (b) disability qualified members and (c) judges in the social security and child support jurisdiction.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	274535
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice has not set a target waiting time for benefit appeals to be heard in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction. This is because waiting times fluctuate geographically owing to a number of factors including venue capacity, the volumes of benefit decisions made locally, the complexity of the case and the availability of panel members. Furthermore, the listing of appeals, including consideration of whether a hearing should be expedited, is a function of the Tribunal’s judiciary. There are also no targets for staffing levels for medical members, disability qualified members or judges in the SSCS jurisdiction. Levels are set based on forecast receipts to the SSCS jurisdiction, outstanding workload, and venue capacity.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HCMTS) is taking positive steps to reduce the waiting time for appeals to be heard in the SSCS jurisdiction. In 2018, 232 medical members and 118 disability-qualified members were additionally appointed to the SSCS jurisdiction and an extra 129 fee-paid judges have recently been appointed. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from 100 salaried judges and 170 fee-paid judges being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, HMCTS is developing a new digital system with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Case-management “triage” sessions are also being conducted, with the aim of reducing the number of cases that need to progress to an oral hearing.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 274534 question first answered 17/07/2019 17:10:49 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1134455

registered interest
date	25/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Compensation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have received compensation for being assaulted by a fellow prisoner in each of the last three years, and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	269059
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of prisoners who have received damages for a prisoner on prisoner assault claim</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>42</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>48</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>Figure unavailable as 2018/19 litigation data is still being verified.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The figures in the table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.</p><p> </p><p>Violence in prisons remains unacceptably high but there are early signs that we are making progress. Eight of the jails involved in the ‘10 Prisons Project’ saw falls in the final quarter of 2018 – four of them by more than 25% - while the number of assaults across the estate reduced by 11%.</p><p> </p><p>Across the prison estate we have invested an additional £70m in a raft of measures designed to improve safety, security and decency - including body-scanners, enhanced searches and new investigative teams - while the 4,700 additional staff we have recruited since October 2016 are making a real difference.</p><p> </p><p>There are no plans for a further statement at this time.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 01/07/2019 16:46:42 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1134548

registered interest
date	25/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Security
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons contain an electronic gate with at least one safety feature disengaged; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	269060
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally. Last year, all automated gates across the prison estate were inspected and serviced to ensure that they were in good working order. Following those inspections, each gate was left with the relevant safety features working properly.</p><p> </p><p>Our maintenance providers are instructed to test the operation of all such gates at least once a month, including the relevant safety features. We will continue to monitor their work closely to ensure that the maintenance of gates does not fall short of the standard required.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 01/07/2019 16:38:34 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1122746

registered interest
date	24/04/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment he has made of (a) employment terms and conditions, (b) levels of violence, (c) overcrowding and (d) staffing levels at private and public prisons.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	247067
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2019 answer text <p>There is no single comparative assessment of public versus private prisons. However, all public sector and privately managed prisons are subject to the same performance framework, which assesses data against a range of measures. These are augmented by inspection scores, business intelligence and management information, including from management visits and assurance activities. Following an end of year moderation process, each establishment is assigned a place on a four-point rating scale, which runs from serious concern (1) to exceptional (4). The ratings for 2017/18 are published on gov.uk at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-ratings-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-ratings-2017-to-2018</a>. Ratings for 2018/19 will be published in July this year.</p><p> </p><p>All prisons are also independently scrutinised by Independent Monitoring Boards, HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.</p><p> </p><p>The operational capacity of all prisons in England and Wales is provided monthly as part of the regularly published prison population statistics. This information can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prison-population-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prison-population-statistics</a>. The rate of crowding is published in the Annual HMPPS Digest at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-hm-prison-and-probation-service-digest-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-hm-prison-and-probation-service-digest-2017-to-2018</a>. The average percentage of prisoners in crowded accommodation was 24.2% in 2017/18, a reduction of 0.3% from 2016/17.</p><p> </p><p>The level of violence across both public sector and privately managed prisons is also closely monitored, and statistics are published routinely on gov.uk. The latest safety in custody statistics can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-december-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-december-2018</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Prison officer numbers are at their highest in five years, which is vital to ensuring prisons are safe, secure and decent. We have recruited over 4,700 new prison officers across the country since October 2016 to improve safety and help turn offenders’ lives around. The recruitment drive will continue until we reach required levels across the prison estate, ensuring prisons can fulfil their purpose – protecting the public, reducing reoffending and, crucially, rehabilitating offenders. A breakdown of staffing at various grades by public sector prison establishment is provided as part of the HMPPS workforce statistics, which are published quarterly at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics</a></p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold staffing numbers for privately managed prisons and, as such, their workforce statistics are not published. It is the responsibility of the contractor to determine and maintain the number of staff necessary to discharge the requirements of the contract and ensure that staff are sufficiently trained to undertake their duties.</p><p> </p><p>Privately managed prisons have different grading systems from public sector establishments. Terms and conditions for staff, however, remain comparative.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 02/05/2019 16:08:53 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1121446

registered interest
date	11/04/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Offenders: Electronic Tagging
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2019 to Question 234706 on Offenders: Electronic Tagging, how many offenders have taken part in each of the GPS electronic tagging pilots in each month since the pilots started.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
uin	244087
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2019 answer text <p>The tables below provide information on the number of individuals on a GPS tag per month during the Ministry of Justice GPS pilot. The Pilot ran in two regional police force clusters: the Midlands (Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands) and BeNCH (Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire). The learning from the Pilot has been incorporated into the new national location monitoring service announced by the Secretary of State on 16 February. This will help strengthen supervision, enforce exclusion zones and give victims greater peace of mind. More detail about the Pilot, including the cohorts involved, can be found here <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/process-evaluation-of-the-global-positioning-system-gps-electronic-monitoring-pilot" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/process-evaluation-of-the-global-positioning-system-gps-electronic-monitoring-pilot</a></p><p> </p><p>The numbers of new starts in the Pilot dropped to zero a few months before the end of the Pilot. This was because the Pilot was scheduled to last for 18 months, ending on 31 March 2018. As most electronic monitoring orders last several months, the MoJ imposed a cut-off date for fitting new tags three months before the Pilot was due to end. This ensured that decision makers were not, for example, ordering new tags to be fitted only a few weeks before they would have to be removed.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1 shows the total number of individuals wearing a GPS tag at the end of every month.</p><p> </p><p>Table 2 shows the number of new GPS starts each month.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 29/04/2019 16:39:49 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon