Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much (a) his Department (b) Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service and (c) the National Offender Management Service has spent on prison officer recruitment in each year since 2010.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The delivery model for prison officer recruitment in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and formerly, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), has changed several times since 2010 to align with business need. This has spanned local, regional and centralised management of campaigns, as well as the current blended approach of central and local management, with recruitment costs delegated across roles in individual prisons, regional delivery areas, centralised teams and contracted suppliers.
Therefore, we do not hold complete figures in each year since 2010 as this information is held in a number of different areas and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We have included spend for centralised prison officer campaigns since 2019/20.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) staff in total and (b) full-time equivalent civil service staff were employed to manage prison officer numbers in each year since 2010; and how many of those staff were (a) SCS4, (b) SCS3, (c) SCS2, (d) SCS1, (e) grade 6, (f) grade 7, (g) SEO, (h) HEO, (i) EO and (j) AA.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In the last 12 years there have been a number of different teams managing Prison Officer Recruitment. Due to these changes to the teams, and how the data is recorded, it would be deemed a disproportionate cost to undertake the manual data collection required to answer this PQ.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) staff in total and (b) full-time equivalent staff were employed in the headquarters of (a) HMPPS and NOMS and (b) area services in each year since 2010.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The number of staff in post in HMPPS HQ and Area Services each year since 2010 can be found below in table 1 (headcount) and table 2 (full time equivalent).
Table 1: HMPPS HQ and Area Services staff in post1, by financial year as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2021 and 31 December 2021 (Headcount)
| Headcount | ||
| HMPPS HQ2,3 | Area Services3 | Total |
31-Mar-2010 | 3,718 | 609 | 4,327 |
31-Mar-2011 | 2,329 | 916 | 3,245 |
31-Mar-2012 | 1,526 | 1,271 | 2,797 |
31-Mar-2013 | 1,182 | 1,267 | 2,449 |
31-Mar-2014 | 1,199 | 1,384 | 2,583 |
31-Mar-2015 | 1,447 | 1,464 | 2,911 |
31-Mar-2016 | 1,785 | 1,658 | 3,443 |
31-Mar-2017 | 2,072 | 1,604 | 3,676 |
31-Mar-2018 | 2,139 | 1,574 | 3,713 |
31-Mar-2019 | 2,471 | 1,694 | 4,165 |
31-Mar-2020 | 3,752 | 1,677 | 5,429 |
31-Mar-2021 | 4,150 | 1,709 | 5,859 |
31-Dec-2021 | 4,352 | 1,826 | 6,178 |
Table 2: HMPPS HQ and Area Services staff in post1, by financial year as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2021 and 31 December 2021 (full time equivalent)
| Full Time Equivalent | ||
| HMPPS HQ2,3 | Area Services3 | Total |
31-Mar-2010 | 3,556 | 590 | 4,146 |
31-Mar-2011 | 2,235 | 883 | 3,118 |
31-Mar-2012 | 1,462 | 1,174 | 2,636 |
31-Mar-2013 | 1,125 | 1,173 | 2,298 |
31-Mar-2014 | 1,164 | 1,281 | 2,444 |
31-Mar-2015 | 1,412 | 1,378 | 2,789 |
31-Mar-2016 | 1,731 | 1,604 | 3,335 |
31-Mar-2017 | 2,019 | 1,545 | 3,563 |
31-Mar-2018 | 2,090 | 1,511 | 3,601 |
31-Mar-2019 | 2,406 | 1,627 | 4,033 |
31-Mar-2020 | 3,578 | 1,609 | 5,187 |
31-Mar-2021 | 3,914 | 1,642 | 5,557 |
31-Dec-2021 | 4,119 | 1,753 | 5,872 |
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to conduct an evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of the expansion of powers under s28 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 gives victims the opportunity to have their cross-examination pre-recorded, without the ordeal of having to take part in a live trial, subject to judicial discretion.
We are looking at data from the pilots and working with partners to understand the operational changes we need to make to proceed with our plan to rollout of s.28 for victims of sexual and modern slavery offences in all Crown Courts.
This autumn, we aim to publish the results of a process evaluation conducted with victims and criminal justice practitioners who have used this provision.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to review the Human Rights Act 1998 in lieu of the Independent Human Rights Act Review Panel publishing its conclusions.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As the Deputy Prime Minister has set out, we will overhaul the Human Rights Act (HRA) to make sure it meets the needs of the society it serves and commands public support. The Government has established the Independent Human Rights Act Review to examine the framework of the HRA, how it is operating in practice and whether any change is required. We look forward to receiving the Panel’s report, and will be carefully considering the Panel’s conclusions as part of any wider reform programme. We will publish the Panel’s report and have already committed to consulting on proposed changes to the Act.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had discussions with his counterparts in the (a) Republic of Ireland and (b) US Administration on plans to review the Human Rights Act 1998 and the potential effect those plans might have on the Good Friday Agreement.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, the UK committed to completing incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into Northern Ireland law. We remain a signatory of the ECHR, and in carrying out our programme of reforms we will continue to ensure that our obligations under the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement are being met.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to make any amendment to the Human Rights Act which will require changes to the Good Friday Agreement.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, the UK committed to completing incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into Northern Ireland law. We remain a signatory of the ECHR, and in carrying out our programme of reforms we will continue to ensure that our obligations under the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement are being met.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of sections (a) 2(1) and (b) 2(A) of the Suicide Act 1961 between 1 April 2009 and 31 July 2020.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government has not made, and has no plans to make, an assessment of the effectiveness of provisions in the Suicide Act 1961.
The Government’s view remains that if there is a requirement for any change to the law in this area it must be for individual Parliamentarians to consider as an issue of conscience, rather than a decision for Government.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners in HMP Wormwood Scrubs have (a) been tested and (b) tested positive for covid-19 in each of the last six months.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has been working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS, and health authority colleagues in England and Wales for a number of months on providing access to Covid-19 tests in a prison environment. More recently, additional testing capacity has been made available to limit the importation of infection into prisons. This includes the regular testing of staff across all prisons and carrying out testing of all new receptions to stop the virus spreading into and between jails.
The most recently published figures included in the HMPPS workforce quarterly statistics provided data for HMPPS staff in post by establishment, as at 30 September 2020. On that date there were 485 directly employed staff in post, by headcount, at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, 91 of which were off sick for non-COVID reasons. The average non-COVID days lost at the prison were lower for the 12 months ending in September 2020, the most recently published data, compared to the prior period ending in March for 2020.
30 staff were absent from work due to self-isolation or quarantine on official health advice on 30th October. This includes both directly and non-directly employed staff. It does not, however, include staff who were off work due to COVID related sickness, caring responsibilities due to COVID or any other COVID related absences.
The table below shows the most recent verified data for HMP Wormwood Scrubs. HMPPS do not hold complete data for the number of individual staff members or prisoners who have been tested. It should be noted that staff numbers include both those directly and non-directly employed. Where values of two or fewer are present they have been suppressed (~) in order to prevent disclosure of personal information. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Much of the data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic has been done at pace, with recording practices evolving as we understand more about the requirements and conditions we are facing. In order to present the timeliest information, the data presented has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics.
| May 20 | Jun 20 | Jul 20 | Aug 20 | Sep 20 | Oct 20 |
Staff testing positive | ~ | 0 | ~ | ~ | 0 | 19 |
| Jul 20 | Aug 20 | Sep 20 | Oct 20 | Nov 20 | Dec 20 |
Prisoners testing positive | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 7 | 6 |
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff employed in HMP Wormwood Scrubs have (a) been tested and (b) tested positive for covid-19 in each of the last six months.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has been working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS, and health authority colleagues in England and Wales for a number of months on providing access to Covid-19 tests in a prison environment. More recently, additional testing capacity has been made available to limit the importation of infection into prisons. This includes the regular testing of staff across all prisons and carrying out testing of all new receptions to stop the virus spreading into and between jails.
The most recently published figures included in the HMPPS workforce quarterly statistics provided data for HMPPS staff in post by establishment, as at 30 September 2020. On that date there were 485 directly employed staff in post, by headcount, at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, 91 of which were off sick for non-COVID reasons. The average non-COVID days lost at the prison were lower for the 12 months ending in September 2020, the most recently published data, compared to the prior period ending in March for 2020.
30 staff were absent from work due to self-isolation or quarantine on official health advice on 30th October. This includes both directly and non-directly employed staff. It does not, however, include staff who were off work due to COVID related sickness, caring responsibilities due to COVID or any other COVID related absences.
The table below shows the most recent verified data for HMP Wormwood Scrubs. HMPPS do not hold complete data for the number of individual staff members or prisoners who have been tested. It should be noted that staff numbers include both those directly and non-directly employed. Where values of two or fewer are present they have been suppressed (~) in order to prevent disclosure of personal information. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Much of the data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic has been done at pace, with recording practices evolving as we understand more about the requirements and conditions we are facing. In order to present the timeliest information, the data presented has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics.
| May 20 | Jun 20 | Jul 20 | Aug 20 | Sep 20 | Oct 20 |
Staff testing positive | ~ | 0 | ~ | ~ | 0 | 19 |
| Jul 20 | Aug 20 | Sep 20 | Oct 20 | Nov 20 | Dec 20 |
Prisoners testing positive | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 7 | 6 |