Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the retirement age for prison officers given the (a) mental and (b) physical health challenges of the role.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We recognise the unique and challenging role that prison officers play in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. The Lord Chancellor has requested advice from officials on the pension age of prison officers, and we will continue to engage with trade unions as this is considered.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reducing the retirement age for prison officers in line with (a) police officers and (b) firefighters.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We recognise the unique and challenging role that prison officers play in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. The Lord Chancellor has requested advice from officials on the pension age of prison officers, and we will continue to engage with trade unions as this is considered.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking through the criminal justice system to help tackle violence against women and children.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is. The Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. We are aiming to publish our new, cross-government strategy later this year.
We will use a wide variety of tools to target perpetrators and tackle the root causes of abuse and violence. The Ministry of Justice has already taken action by:
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to meet with those harmed by sodium valproate.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This is the responsibility of the Secretary of State at DHSC, whose department is meeting with these stakeholders.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to improve (a) working conditions and (b) infrastructure for prison officers.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We recognise that the serious problem of over-occupancy which we inherited has meant that conditions for those living and working in prisons are not those we would expect. We are determined to rectify this. The steps we are taking include action in response to the independent Sentencing Review and our prison building programme. Together, these measures are designed to balance demand for prison places with supply over the longer term.
Our 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy makes a commitment to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places: we aim to do this by 2031. This involves the construction of four new prisons, including the recently delivered HMP Millsike, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate and temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults on staff by prisoners have taken place at (a) HMP Downview and (b) HMP High Down in Banstead in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The latest data on assaults on staff, broken down by prison, covers the year up to December 2024. It is published in table 8e of the Safety in Custody summary tables to December 2024, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-december-2024.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many biological males are held in HMP Downview.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As of 1 July, seven prisoners were being held on E Wing, the separate unit for transgender women at HMP/YOI Downview. There were no transgender women being held in other parts of the prison.
We are reviewing allocation policy in light of the Supreme Court ruling and will set out any changes in our approach in due course.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to tackle the levels of radon gas at HMP Dartmoor.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Elevated radon readings were first found at Dartmoor in 2020. HMPPS has been monitoring radon levels to manage exposure to prisoners and staff.
Dartmoor has been temporarily closed since August 2024 after monitoring results were higher than expected. We are working with specialist radon experts to investigate whether we can re-open the prison safely.
The health and safety of prisoners and staff is our top priority.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many violent attacks on prison officers on prison estates have occurred in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Reducing the levels of violence in prisons is a key priority and we are working hard to make prisons as safe as possible.
In response to recent serious assaults on our brave and hardworking prison officers, we are mandating the use of Protective Body Armour in the highest risk units and this summer we will trial the use of tasers by specialist staff in adult male prisons.
To protect our staff from serious assaults, PAVA – a synthetic pepper spray – is available in the adult male closed estate and a limited rollout in three Youth Offender Institutions is planned to commence in the summer period, to be used as a last resort in response to an immediate threat of serious harm. We are also committed to removing wet shave razors, that can be used as weapons. Electric shavers are in 31 priority sites in the adult male closed estate and this rollout continues.
All new staff receive violence reduction training and prisoners who pose a raised risk of violence are supported through a case management approach to address the underlying causes of their violence. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 doubled the maximum penalty to two years’ imprisonment for those who assault prison officers.
We publish Safety in Custody statistics quarterly covering deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison custody in England and Wales. Statistics on assaults on staff can be found in Table 4 of the Safety in Custody summary tables to December 2024.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the level of violence against prison officers in prisons.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Reducing the levels of violence in prisons is a key priority and we are working hard to make prisons as safe as possible.
In response to recent serious assaults on our brave and hardworking prison officers, we are mandating the use of Protective Body Armour in the highest risk units and this summer we will trial the use of tasers by specialist staff in adult male prisons.
To protect our staff from serious assaults, PAVA – a synthetic pepper spray – is available in the adult male closed estate and a limited rollout in three Youth Offender Institutions is planned to commence in the summer period, to be used as a last resort in response to an immediate threat of serious harm. We are also committed to removing wet shave razors, that can be used as weapons. Electric shavers are in 31 priority sites in the adult male closed estate and this rollout continues.
All new staff receive violence reduction training and prisoners who pose a raised risk of violence are supported through a case management approach to address the underlying causes of their violence. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 doubled the maximum penalty to two years’ imprisonment for those who assault prison officers.
We publish Safety in Custody statistics quarterly covering deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison custody in England and Wales. Statistics on assaults on staff can be found in Table 4 of the Safety in Custody summary tables to December 2024.