Skip to main content

Written question asked by Chris Elmore (Labour) on Monday, 5 February 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 7 February 2024. It was answered by Edward Argar (Conservative) on Tuesday, 13 February 2024 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.


Young Offender Institutions

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times (a) the National Dog and Technical Support Group was deployed to Youth Offender Institutes and (b) those dogs were used in those deployments in each year since 2017.

Answer

The National Dog and Technical Support Group (NDTSG) provides prison dogs for patrol and detection purposes and a wide range of technical support including the transmission of audio and visual information, and the capability to capture evidence of an incident.

The table below states how many times NDTSG was deployed to each Youth Offenders Institute and how many times those dogs were used in those deployments in each year since 2017.

Establishment

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

NDTSG deployments

Dog uses

NDTSG deployments

Dog uses

NDTSG deployments

Dog uses

NDTSG deployments

Dog uses

NDTSG deployments

Dog uses

NDTSG deployments

Dog uses

NDTSG deployments

Dog uses

Cookham Wood

18

0

0

0

2

0

2

0

2

-

2

-

3

-

Feltham

39

3

28

1

14

0

11

0

46

-

15

-

8

-

Parc

37

0

30

0

17

0

18

0

23

-

30

-

15

-

Werrington

13

2

13

2

3

1

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Wetherby

13

1

5

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

2

-

Total

120

6

76

3

37

1

35

0

71

0

47

0

28

0

“–” indicates where dog uses are not recorded pre-2020.

NDTSG is deployed to support the National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) with a wide range of technical support including the transmission of audio and visual information, and the capability to capture evidence of an incident. As shown by the number of dog uses, the increased deployment of NDTSG is not necessarily indicative of an increase in the use of dogs. Equally, where dog uses have increased, this may be due to an increase in proactive searches and patrols at establishments, and is not necessarily indicative of responses to disorder.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
13094
Session
2023-24
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Dogs Young offender institutions
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk