Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department have made a risk assessment of prison officer vacancies in the Long Term High Security Estate.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We closely monitor staffing levels across the estate via a number of internal governance forums, which assess the vacancy levels for individual prisons and across regions and functions, including the Long Term High Security Estate (LTHSE). Vacancies are one of a number of contributory factors that determine HMPPS' assessment of risk and stability within prisons. We will always ensure that prisons are sufficiently staffed to deliver safe and secure regimes. Where establishments feel that their staffing levels will affect stability or regime, including because of vacancies, there are a number of ways they can maximise the use of their own resource and seek support from other establishments in the short term, through processes managed nationally at Agency level. These include overtime payments and support via Detached Duty staff from other prisons.
We are continuing recruitment activity at all sites with a current or future need, including in the LTHSE. Nationally, we have seen a substantial improvement in the national staffing picture within prisons over the past year. The number of Band 3-5 prison officers increased by 1,634 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between December 2022 and December 2023, and resignation rates have fallen over the same period. This is the result of significant efforts across the agency, including substantial increases in pay for staff, our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign, incentivized recruitment schemes where we incentivised applicants to relocate to ‘harder-to-staff’ sites, and the Prison Officer Alumni Network, where we have fast-tracked former staff back into the service.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations she has made to NICE on the availability of Enhertu.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department meets regularly with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues, including access to medicines. The NICE has recommended Enhertu, also known as trastuzumab deruxtecan and made by Daiichi Sankyo, for use through the Cancer Drugs Fund, for the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic or unresectable breast cancer. It is available to eligible National Health Service patients in England, in line with the NICE’s recommendations.
The NICE is currently evaluating Enhertu for the treatment of HER2-low metastatic or unresectable breast cancer. Following negotiations between NHS England and the company, which concluded without a commercial agreement to make it available at a cost-effective price for the NHS, the NICE published final draft guidance on 5 March 2024, that does not recommend it as an option for this indication. The NICE remains open to further discussions with NHS England and the company, and currently expects to publish final guidance on 15 May 2024.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were released under the Release following Risk Assessed Recall review process between 7 September and 31 December 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In the case of recalled standard determinate sentence and extended sentence offenders, the Secretary of State has an executive power to re-release them, if he considers that the statutory release test is met - that is, that it is no longer necessary on the grounds of public protection for the offender to remain confined. Thus, the Secretary of State’s power is exercised with regard to the same test to which the Parole Board has regard.
The power is exercised by officials in the Public Protection Group (PPG), in His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service under approved delegated authority. In exercising that power, PPG works closely with the Probation Service, in order to put in place a robust risk management plan before a final decision is made to re-release the prisoner.
The number of recalled offenders released using the Secretary of State’s re-release power for each year between 2017 and 2023 is set out in the table below. Executive re-release was refreshed and relaunched as Risk Assessed Recall Review (RARR) on 30 May 2023. Between 7 September and 31 December 2023, 89 people were released following a RARR.
Year of issuing the decision | Number of releases |
2017 | 1,584 |
2018 | 1,386 |
2019 | 957 |
2020 | 725 |
2021 | 464 |
2022 | 92 |
2023 up to May | 20 |
The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. As such, figures are subject to change as information is updated.
Data source: Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were released under the executive release scheme in each year between 2017 and 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In the case of recalled standard determinate sentence and extended sentence offenders, the Secretary of State has an executive power to re-release them, if he considers that the statutory release test is met - that is, that it is no longer necessary on the grounds of public protection for the offender to remain confined. Thus, the Secretary of State’s power is exercised with regard to the same test to which the Parole Board has regard.
The power is exercised by officials in the Public Protection Group (PPG), in His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service under approved delegated authority. In exercising that power, PPG works closely with the Probation Service, in order to put in place a robust risk management plan before a final decision is made to re-release the prisoner.
The number of recalled offenders released using the Secretary of State’s re-release power for each year between 2017 and 2023 is set out in the table below. Executive re-release was refreshed and relaunched as Risk Assessed Recall Review (RARR) on 30 May 2023. Between 7 September and 31 December 2023, 89 people were released following a RARR.
Year of issuing the decision | Number of releases |
2017 | 1,584 |
2018 | 1,386 |
2019 | 957 |
2020 | 725 |
2021 | 464 |
2022 | 92 |
2023 up to May | 20 |
The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. As such, figures are subject to change as information is updated.
Data source: Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many police detectives are employed by the counter corruption unit in HM Prison and Probation Service.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No Police Detectives are directly employed by HMPPS. HMPPS has, however, funded 20 dedicated Police Detectives employed in Police Regional Organised Crime Units, to support in the investigation of corruption within the organisation.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies there were for band 3 prison officers in the Long Term High Security Estate - South at the start of each year from 2017 to 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Following a period of staffing challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a substantial improvement in the national staffing picture within prisons. The number of Band 3-5 prison officers has increased by 1,634 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between December 2022 - 2023, and resignation rates have fallen over the same period. This is the result of significant efforts across the agency, including substantial increases in pay for staff and launching our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign.
Table One below shows the number of indicative vacancies for Band 3 Prison Officers in the Long Term & High Security Estate (for prisons in the South) for January 2018, January 2019, January 2020, January 2021, January 2022 and January 2023. Data is not held for the period January 2017 and has not been provided.
In reality, many establishments will routinely sit marginally below their Target Staffing level due to normal attrition and time to hire and so we would not expect establishments to run consistently at 100% staffing.
Where prisons are not at their Target Staffing level, these are routinely supplemented (e.g., by using Payment Plus, a form of overtime) which is not accounted for in the indicative vacancy data provided. Use of detached duty, a long-standing mechanism to deploy staff from one prison or region to support another, is also not reflected in the data.
Table One: Total Band 3 Prison Officer Indicative Vacancies across Long Term & High Security Estate (LTHSE) South, January 2018 to January 2023
Month | Indicative vacancies (FTE) |
Jan-18 | 104 |
Jan-19 | 14 |
Jan-20 | 62 |
Jan-21 | 86 |
Jan-22 | 127 |
Jan-23 | 323 |
Notes
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21066 on Prisons: Civil Disorder, how may Tornado trained officers each prison should aim to have trained.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Operation Tornado is a national mutual aid plan by which prisons support one another in the event of a serious incident or occurrence requiring a reinforcement of staff. Operation Tornado is employed by HMPPS for three main reasons:
HMPPS aims to have 2,100 volunteers trained in readiness for Operation Tornado. Since the inception of Operation Tornado in the late 1980s, HMPPS has allocated a commitment to each prison for how many Tornado staff they should have trained. HMPPS monitors the number of staff available for deployment and offer training spaces to ensure resilience to respond to serious incidents.
In the event of a serious incident, all prisons, including those who have a commitment of zero, receive the same level of support from the Operation Response and Resilience Unit and Tornado trained staff from other prisons if required.
The requested information is in the table attached.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what investigation HM Prison and Probation Service has carried out into the causes of the hospitalisation of (a) prison staff and (b) prisoners at HMP Lewes on 28 March 2024.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
On 28 March, following a Maundy Thursday service and meal in the prison chapel at HMP Lewes, two people who were present collapsed and were taken to hospital. After others who had attended the service also reported feeling unwell, the 32 prisoners and six staff who had attended were checked by paramedics. In total, six people required hospital treatment. The police are conducting an investigation into the incident. His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service is continuing to engage with them and to obtain regular updates on the investigation.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people recalled to prison were recalled due to (a) new offences, (b) a lack of address and (c) non-compliance with appointments in the latest 12 months for which data is available.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Public protection is our priority. The decision to recall on offender on licensed supervision is taken on the professional advice of senior probation staff following consideration of safe alternatives to recall. Where offenders are recalled, it is because they present a risk of serious harm to the public and the controls available are no longer sufficient to keep the public safe. These individuals will remain in prison for only as long as necessary to protect the public.
Reasons for recall are recorded and published as set out in the table below. Further breakdown of recall reasons is not possible without significant manual checks.
Recall period | Oct-Dec 2022 | Jan-Mar 2023* | Apr-Jun 2023 | Jul-Sep 2023 | % Proportion |
Total Recalls | 6,092 | 6,824 | 6,814 | 7,030 |
|
Facing further charge | 1,821 | 1,977 | 1,883 | 1,815 | 28 |
Non-compliance | 4,378 | 5,047 | 5,038 | 5,376 | 74 |
Failed to keep in touch | 1,960 | 2,140 | 2,110 | 2,286 | 32 |
Failed to reside | 1,613 | 1,792 | 1,810 | 1,920 | 27 |
Drugs/alcohol | 413 | 437 | 489 | 577 | 7 |
Poor Behaviour - Relationships | 205 | 214 | 212 | 224 | 3 |
HDC - Time violation | 124 | 131 | 171 | 151 | 2 |
HDC - Inability to monitor | 65 | 75 | 71 | 81 | 1 |
Failed home visit | 89 | 78 | 73 | 86 | 1 |
HDC - Failed installation | 37 | 29 | 30 | 51 | 1 |
HDC - Equipment Tamper | 9 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 0 |
Other | 1,091 | 1,299 | 1,304 | 1,296 | 19 |
* Figures for Jan-Mar 2023 have been revised since last publication.
The table includes instances of offenders recalled multiple times.
Recall reasons do not sum to the total number of recalls published, as more than one reason can be recorded against each recall.
We routinely publish recall data at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for how many and what proportion of people on community sentences with a supervision element was a breach recorded in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The supervision requirement was phased out with the introduction of Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014, therefore we have used the Rehabilitation Activity Requirement as the data source in this response as the best match to Supervision.
Between 01/04/2022 and 31/03/2023, the last full year for which data is available, breaches were initiated one or more times for 39,617 individuals with a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement as part of their Community Sentence.
During this period, the typical number of persons with an active Rehabilitation Activity Requirement was 84,608. As the caseload will vary, with a vast number of sentences commencing and ending on a daily basis, it is not possible to provide a figure for the proportion of those with a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, with a breach recorded.
It should be noted that a breach being initiated does not necessarily mean that a breach was heard at court, or resulted in a Court hearing, they may instead have been withdrawn due to renewed compliance, at the Probation Practitioner’s professional judgement. Breaches are undertaken for a number of reasons, including non-attendance, unacceptable behaviour and commission of further offences.
Data are as at 16/04/2024. Data are sourced from nDelius and while these data have been assured as much as practical, as with any large administrative dataset, the data should not be assumed to be accurate to the last value presented.