1-20 of 240 results for subject:Prisons
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On new clause 1, will my right hon. Friend give way?
On new clause 1, will my right hon. Friend give way?
I am very grateful. As a former sentencing Minister, I can see no logical reason why the Government would oppose new clause 1—tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford), my fellow Leicestershire MP—which simply asks for an assessment and recommendations to be made and for...
I am very grateful. As a former sentencing Minister, I can see no logical reason why the Government would oppose new clause 1—tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford), my fellow Leicestershire MP—which simply asks for an assessment and recommendations to be made and for...
As always, I am grateful to the Lord Chancellor for early sight of her statement, and for her coming to the House to deliver it, giving us the opportunity to ask questions. She is always unfailingly courteous in her dealings with this House.
The Lord Chancellor made several announcements today. It...
As always, I am grateful to the Lord Chancellor for early sight of her statement, and for her coming to the House to deliver it, giving us the opportunity to ask questions. She is always unfailingly courteous in her dealings with this House.
The Lord Chancellor made several announcements today. It...
I followed it closely.
I followed it closely.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the written ministerial statement of 21 May 2024 entitled Prisons safety update: wet-shave razors, HCWS493, whether she plans to implement the phased removal of wet-shave razors from an initial 30 prisons in the adult male closed estate.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the written ministerial statement of 21 May 2024 entitled Prisons safety update: wet-shave razors, HCWS493, whether she plans to implement the phased removal of wet-shave razors from an initial 30 prisons in the adult male closed estate.
I can confirm that we are continuing the plans for a phased removal of wet-shave razors and that this will be implemented in up to 30 prisons in the adult male estate in 2024/25.
I am grateful to the Lord Chancellor for very timely advance sight of her statement. May I take this opportunity to congratulate her on her appointment, as well as the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones)? I congratulate the Minister of State, Ministry of...
I am grateful to the Lord Chancellor for very timely advance sight of her statement. May I take this opportunity to congratulate her on her appointment, as well as the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones)? I congratulate the Minister of State, Ministry of...
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of repurposing empty buildings into prisons.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of repurposing empty buildings into prisons.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Clause 1, discussed with new clause 1 (Unauthorised photographs, films and sound recordings of prisons and prison workers: Scotland), new clause 2 (Unauthorised photograph or sound-recording of the inside of a prison: Northern Ireland) and new clause 3 (Unauthorised photographs and sound-recordings of prisons and prison workers: Northern Ireland), as amended, agreed to. Clauses 2 and 3, as amended, agreed to. New clauses 1 to 3 agreed to. Bill, as amended, to be reported (Bill 224).
Clause 1, discussed with new clause 1 (Unauthorised photographs, films and sound recordings of prisons and prison workers: Scotland), new clause 2 (Unauthorised photograph or sound-recording of the inside of a prison: Northern Ireland) and new clause 3 (Unauthorised photographs and sound-recordings of prisons and prison workers: Northern Ireland), as...
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential risk to public safety of Operation Early Dawn.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential risk to public safety of Operation Early Dawn.
Operation Early Dawn is an existing contingency measure to ensure sufficient governance exists between HMPPS, the Prison Escort Custody Service (PECS) and HMCTS to maintain the effective management of prisoner transfers between courts and custody.
It involves an operational assessment being made each morning by HMPPS on which prisoners can be transferred from police cells and taken to courts to ensure there is a safe and secure location if remanded to custody.
At least a partial collection is made from every Police Station which allows Police (and HMCTS for subsequent collections) to identify priority collections, including those who pose a higher risk.
Public protection is carefully considered when taking decisions under Operation Early Dawn.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appearances in magistrates courts were delayed on (a) 15 and (b) 16 May 2024 as part of Operation Early Dawn.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appearances in magistrates courts were delayed on (a) 15 and (b) 16 May 2024 as part of Operation Early Dawn.
Operation Early Dawn is a contingency designed to mitigate impacts across the Criminal Justice System. We monitor system impacts but it is hard to say how many appearances in the magistrates courts were delayed because of Operation Early Dawn, as this data is not collected in our management information systems (because Operation Early Dawn is a contingency).
The Ministry of Justice, across its agencies, is working to minimise any delays across the court system, which includes prioritising the most urgent cases.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether beds of prisoners who have been released on temporary licence are counted as available for the purposes of determining capacity.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether beds of prisoners who have been released on temporary licence are counted as available for the purposes of determining capacity.
Where a prisoner is authorised to temporarily leave prison, including hospital visits and release on temporary licence (ROTL), their bed remains allocated to them. This reflects the fact that such absences are strictly time limited and the prisoner must return within the short term. Their bed is not therefore considered vacant for the purpose of determining available capacity.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department consulted representatives of (a) magistrates and (b) solicitors before implementing Operation Early Dawn.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department consulted representatives of (a) magistrates and (b) solicitors before implementing Operation Early Dawn.
The Ministry of Justice engaged with key Criminal Justice System partners, including the judiciary and legal profession, in advance of the activation of Operation Early Dawn.
Safety in prisons continues to be of paramount importance and we remain committed to tackling violence against both staff and prisoners. When the Government launched the Prisons Strategy White Paper in 2021, we pledged to look at alternatives to the use of wet-shave razors in prisons, which can be used...
Safety in prisons continues to be of paramount importance and we remain committed to tackling violence against both staff and prisoners. When the Government launched the Prisons Strategy White Paper in 2021, we pledged to look at alternatives to the use of wet-shave razors in prisons, which can be used...
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison guards were formally investigated for conveyance of (a) drugs, (b) weapons, (c) tobacco and (d) other illicit material in each year since 2015.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison guards were formally investigated for conveyance of (a) drugs, (b) weapons, (c) tobacco and (d) other illicit material in each year since 2015.
It is not possible to break down the charge of trafficking into the specific categories of drugs, weapons, tobacco, or other illicit material in our departmental-wide data.
The vast majority of Prison Service staff are hardworking and honest. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners, and we are doing more than ever to catch the small number who break the rules. We drive a culture of the highest professional standards, and we are committed to addressing wrongdoing sensitively and fairly, preventing it escalating into corruption. Where corruption does take place, however, we provide a robust response.
This is on top of robust vetting procedures, including criminal record checks, while our £100 million Security Investment Programme aimed to improve security with a focus on technology, such as X-ray body scanners. This endeavours to improve our ability to detect and disrupt drugs from entering prisons, supported by enhancements to intelligence and counter corruption capabilities.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of random mandatory drug tests gave a positive result in each (a) prison and (b) young offender institution in the last 12 months.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of random mandatory drug tests gave a positive result in each (a) prison and (b) young offender institution in the last 12 months.
Figures for random Mandatory Drug Testing (rMDT) for 2023/24 cannot be released at this time, as rMDT data for April 2023 - March 2024 is subject to future publication in the 2023-24 HMPPS Annual Digest, to be published in July 2024.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new prison places have been created in each of the last five years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new prison places have been created in each of the last five years.
The below table provides a summary of the number of prison places that have opened in each year since 2019. This includes places delivered as part of the 20,000 places portfolio, including two new c.1,700 place prisons and new prison places delivered through houseblocks and Rapid Deployment Cells (RDCs)
Year | Places opened |
2019 | 206 |
2020 | 508 |
2021 | 1,064 |
2022 | 2,176 |
2023 | 2,459 |
Total | 6,413 |
For simplicity, all places relating to a prison opening are included in the year that the prison opened. In practice, a new prison may take more than a year before reaching its final operational capacity.
We continue to push ahead with the largest prison expansion programme since the Victorian era – with 10,000 of the pledged 20,000 additional places on track to be delivered by the end of 2025. This will include our third new prison, HMP Millsike, delivering c.1,500 places, new houseblocks at HMP Stocken and Rye Hill, as well as hundreds more RDCs.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the £100m Security Investment Programme in preventing drugs being smuggled into prisons since March 2022.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the £100m Security Investment Programme in preventing drugs being smuggled into prisons since March 2022.
The Government’s £100m Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs, was completed in March 2022.
This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2023, we have recorded 46,925 positive indications, helping to tackle the smuggling of drugs and other illicit items into prisons.
The investment also funded Enhanced Gate Security at 42 high-risk sites, enhancing our routine searching of staff and visitors. Over 140 new staff were recruited into the Counter-Corruption Unit through the Security Investment Programme. This includes regional Prevent teams dedicated to building staff resilience through training, awareness raising and individual support, as well as 20 Police Investigators dedicated to investigating corruption within HMPPS.
As part of this investment, we are undertaking a full evaluation for the Security Investment Programme. The evaluation explores whether the programme has achieved its intended outcomes, how the programme has been delivered, whether it has been delivered as intended and to identify factors which further strengthen its effectiveness.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the level of availability of nitazenes in prisons.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the level of availability of nitazenes in prisons.
Since February 2024, all prisoners subject to mandatory drug testing in prisons have been tested for fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. We are working closely with our contracted drug testing provider to further improve our capabilities to test prisoners for other synthetic opioids, including nitazenes.
Forensic testing of suspected drug finds was made available to all public sector prisons in April 2023. Our contracted forensic analysis provider has capability to detect synthetic opioids including all fentanyls and nitazenes.
All prisons have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and we are aware of the threat synthetic drugs present. Our current assessment is that there is a low prevalence of Nitazenes in prison custody. However, we are alert to the risks and continue to monitor this.
Our £100 million investment in tough security measures, such as X-ray body scanners, is helping tackle the supply of illicit drugs into prisons.
To prevent the smuggling of drugs through the mail, we have also invested in next-generation drug trace detection machines. As of March 2024, every public sector prison now has this cutting-edge technology.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether mandatory random drug testing in prisons includes testing for nitrazenes.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether mandatory random drug testing in prisons includes testing for nitrazenes.
Since February 2024, all prisoners subject to mandatory drug testing in prisons have been tested for fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. We are working closely with our contracted drug testing provider to further improve our capabilities to test prisoners for other synthetic opioids, including nitazenes.
Forensic testing of suspected drug finds was made available to all public sector prisons in April 2023. Our contracted forensic analysis provider has capability to detect synthetic opioids including all fentanyls and nitazenes.
All prisons have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and we are aware of the threat synthetic drugs present. Our current assessment is that there is a low prevalence of Nitazenes in prison custody. However, we are alert to the risks and continue to monitor this.
Our £100 million investment in tough security measures, such as X-ray body scanners, is helping tackle the supply of illicit drugs into prisons.
To prevent the smuggling of drugs through the mail, we have also invested in next-generation drug trace detection machines. As of March 2024, every public sector prison now has this cutting-edge technology.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's press release entitled First Rapid Deployment Cells unveiled to boost prison places, published on 3 March 2023, how many such cells have been built as of 9 May 2024.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's press release entitled First Rapid Deployment Cells unveiled to boost prison places, published on 3 March 2023, how many such cells have been built as of 9 May 2024.
As part of our commitment to build 20,000 prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, we have so far delivered c.730 Rapid Deployment Cells (RDCs) across 13 sites, and we are pushing ahead with hundreds more.