Written question asked by John McDonnell (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 6 April 2010. It was answered by Maria Eagle (Labour) on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons: Organised Crime

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate the Prison Service has made of the incidence of organised crime carried out by serving prisoners over the last three years.

Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 30 March 2010, Official Report, column 1086W.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 while in prison.

Secondary information