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Written question asked by Catherine West (Labour) on Wednesday, 13 March 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 15 March 2019. It was answered by Rory Stewart (Conservative) on Thursday, 21 March 2019 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons: Drugs

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with trade unions on the effectiveness of monitoring systems for psychoactive substances in prisons.

Answer

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service consults extensively with its trade unions on a wide range of issues.

Each prison has its own union management consultation committee and a health and safety committee. At national level there are consultation committees which cover areas including health and safety, HR and security. Meetings are chaired by senior leaders and the agendas are open to both sides.

HMPPS’s priority remains the prevention and cessation of any drug supply into prisons and consultation on all the related risks is undertaken in the forums I have referred to above.

Additionally, all Prison Service unions have been represented on the national working group on psychoactive substances – which was set up in late 2016.

Most recently unions have actively contributed to the revision of related health and safety procedures on the subject, including in 10 prisons where staff are being voluntarily tested for exposure to such substances.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
232069
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Drugs Prisons Misuse Monitoring Trade unions
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk