Written question asked by John McDonnell (Labour) on Thursday, 18 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 30 March 2010. It was answered by Maria Eagle (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 March 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons

Question: (2) what estimate he has made of the number of serious organised crime activities being carried out in prisons in England and Wales.

Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 5 March 2010, Official Report, column 1470W.Covert criminal activity is, of its nature, very difficult to quantify. Prisons have a well established security information reporting framework. Where concerns are identified about a prisoner's potential criminal activity, prisons can draw on a range of measures to identify and disrupt that activity.The National Offender Management Service is also fully engaged in action to address serious and organised crime strategically, including the work identified in the Government report "Extending Our Reach: A Comprehensive Approach to Tackling Serious Organised Crime" to develop a strategy to manage serious organised criminals whilst in prison.

Secondary information