Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison guards were working in high security prisons by grade on 1 May in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Argar
The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information and the latest publication covers data up to 31 March 2024.
HM Prison and Probation Service workforce statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Ensuring we attract people with the right skills and retain them so they can progress their career in HMPPS is a key priority, we are working hard to retain and develop clear career paths for our operational staff.
We have invested in several new initiatives to improve the experience of our new joiners and increase retention of our employees.
These include:
To help stem attrition we have implemented a Retention Strategy which is linked to wider activities to improve employee experience, employee lifecycle and staff engagement at work.
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 1,396 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between March 2023 and March 2024. This is the result of significant efforts across the agency, including substantial increases in pay for staff, our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign, 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
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Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times have prison staff been subject to disciplinary action by reason for that action in each year since 2015.
Answered by Edward Argar
Information on the number of public sector prison staff who were subject to conduct & disciplinary action since 2014/15 is given in table 1 in the attached spreadsheet. Figures are presented by financial year up to 2022-23.
While the vast majority of Prison Service staff are hardworking and honest, we take all and any allegations extremely seriously and is investigated and where appropriate, disciplinary action is taken. There is no place in His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) for any form of unacceptable behaviour.
The Tackling Unacceptable Behaviours Unit (TUBU) was established in August 2020 and this has been followed by an increase in reported cases. Its aim is to help improve the working environment by providing support, insight and expertise to staff who raise concerns. The services TUBU provides include a confidential helpline to support staff who are experiencing any form of unacceptable behaviour; a mediation service to resolve workplace conflict; and an investigation service.
The investigation service enables managers to obtain advice and signposting, and gives access to qualified investigators where there is an allegation of bullying, harassment, discrimination or victimisation.
These measures now mean staff are reporting unacceptable behaviour more often.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) starts and (b) completions there have been for the (i) offender behaviour, (ii) sex offender, (iii) substance misuse, (iv) domestic violence and (v) extremism programmes in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Argar
The starts and completions for accredited programmes delivered in custody between March 2010 and March 2023 for (i) offender behaviour, (ii) sex offender, (iii) substance misuse, (iv) domestic violence and (v) extremism programmes are provided in figures 3.1 and 3.2 in Prison Education and Accredited Programme Statistics 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data for 2023-2024 will be published in the Prison Education and Accredited Programmes Statistics report on 26 September 2024.
In custody, the longer-term decrease in Accredited Programme starts and completions has been primarily driven by the change of programme ownership – and responsibility for running substance misuse accredited programmes - from HMPPS to NHS. As of 1 April 2011, local NHS partnerships assumed these responsibilities. The large decreases seen reflect the fact that more offenders are completing programmes run by the NHS, rather than HMPPS. There has also been a reinvestment from shorter, moderate intensity programmes in favour of longer, higher intensity programmes along with the introduction of some 1:1 programmes. This better reflects the identified demand across HMPPS prisons. The number of commissioned completions has therefore decreased although overall maintaining investment.
The starts and completions for accredited programmes delivered in the community from 2009-10 to 2014-15 for (i) offender behaviour, (ii) sex offender, (iii) substance misuse, (iv) domestic violence and (v) extremism programmes are published in the Accredited Programmes Bulletin at Tables 1.3 and 1.4 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/accredited-programmes-bulletin-2014-to-2015.
The information for April 2015-March 2023 is contained in the attached table. The information for starts can be found in table 1 and for completions in table 2.
We keep offending behaviour programmes under continual review, to ensure that they are effective in reducing reoffending and protecting the public.
We have also introduced a range of programmes designed specifically to address Sexual Offending, including one specifically tailored to non-contact internet offending.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
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.
Answered by Edward Argar
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.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people breached tagging orders by curfew type in each year since 2018.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Shadow Minister (Housing and Planning)
Data showing the number of defendants and offenders given new electronically monitored orders by cohort and in total, since April 2017, is available in Table 1.2 of the Data Tables accompanying the most recent Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electronic-monitoring-statistics-publication-march-2024.
The department is currently unable to provide data on the number of individuals who have breached an order each year since 2018 due to non-compliance with an electronically monitored curfew because it is not held.
Courts will decide whether a defendant (for court bail) or, in some cases, an offender serving a community sentence (community order, suspended sentence order, youth rehabilitation order) are in breach of an order that includes electronically monitored compliance with a condition or requirement. In determining whether a breach or the order has occurred they may take into account a number of factors, not exclusively the electronically monitored requirement. Therefore, we are unable to reliably collect data identifying the reason for breach in some of these cases and whether this was exclusively as a result of non-compliance with a curfew requirement.
Similarly, for offenders on post-custody licence, where probation is alerted to a non-compliance with an electronically monitored condition of their licence, they may consider a number of factors, including a reasonable excuse, such as a hospital admission, and whether there is a risk to the public indicated by additional factors. Therefore, when a decision is made to recall an offender to custody for a breach of licence conditions, the electronically monitored condition may be just one factor.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were given tagging orders in each year since 2018.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Shadow Minister (Housing and Planning)
Data showing the number of defendants and offenders given new electronically monitored orders by cohort and in total, since April 2017, is available in Table 1.2 of the Data Tables accompanying the most recent Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electronic-monitoring-statistics-publication-march-2024.
The department is currently unable to provide data on the number of individuals who have breached an order each year since 2018 due to non-compliance with an electronically monitored curfew because it is not held.
Courts will decide whether a defendant (for court bail) or, in some cases, an offender serving a community sentence (community order, suspended sentence order, youth rehabilitation order) are in breach of an order that includes electronically monitored compliance with a condition or requirement. In determining whether a breach or the order has occurred they may take into account a number of factors, not exclusively the electronically monitored requirement. Therefore, we are unable to reliably collect data identifying the reason for breach in some of these cases and whether this was exclusively as a result of non-compliance with a curfew requirement.
Similarly, for offenders on post-custody licence, where probation is alerted to a non-compliance with an electronically monitored condition of their licence, they may consider a number of factors, including a reasonable excuse, such as a hospital admission, and whether there is a risk to the public indicated by additional factors. Therefore, when a decision is made to recall an offender to custody for a breach of licence conditions, the electronically monitored condition may be just one factor.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many multi-agency public protection arrangements referrals were made to probation services for category (a) one, (b) two and (c) three offenders in each year since 2015.
Answered by Edward Argar
Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) are the set of arrangements through which the Police, Probation and Prison Services work together with other agencies to assess and manage the risks posed by violent, sexual and terrorism offenders in the community.
There are four categories of offender eligible for MAPPA management, in accordance with the provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 2003:
Most offenders managed under MAPPA qualify automatically for MAPPA management due to their offence and sentence. Therefore, referrals are necessary only where the offender needs to be managed via formal multi-agency meetings.
We do not hold data on the number of referrals made each year. Specific data on the number of individuals managed under MAPPA in each category on 31 March each year since 2006-7 is published in Table 2(a) at MAPPA_Annual_Report_2022-23.xlsx (live.com). Data on the number of individuals managed at each Level on 31 March each year since 2013-14 are published in Table 2(b) at MAPPA_Annual_Report_2022-23.xlsx (live.com).
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times force been used on (a) adult women and (b) female youth prisoners in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Argar
The information requested is not held centrally for adult women. The Ministry of Justice does not hold use of force data that covers the whole time period requested for adult women.
Data for girls, children and young people can be found within the Safety in the Childrens and Young Persons Secure Estate publication (2022/23 only) Use of force data is published annually with 2023/24 published in July 2024. For years prior to this, there is information on use of force (Restrictive Physical Intervention only) held in the Youth Justice Annual Statistics.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/youth-justice-statistics
The use of force is only to be used when other methods not involving force have been tried and failed or are unlikely to succeed. Officers must then complete a report, outlining why the use of force was necessary, reasonable and proportionate. Prisons and Youth Custody establishments monitor the use of force and take action where there is inappropriate use or poor practice.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many allegations of misconduct were received by the Tackling Unacceptable Behaviours Unit by allegation type in each year since 2015.
Answered by Edward Argar
There is no place in His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) for any form of unacceptable behaviour. Any allegation of unacceptable behaviour is taken seriously and investigated. Where appropriate, disciplinary action is taken.
The Tackling Unacceptable Behaviours Unit (TUBU) was established in August 2020. Its aim is to help improve the working environment by providing support, insight and expertise to staff who raise concerns. The services TUBU provides include a confidential helpline to support staff who are experiencing any form of unacceptable behaviour (bullying, harassment, discrimination or victimisation); a mediation service to resolve workplace conflict; and an investigation service.
The investigation service enables managers to obtain advice and signposting, and gives access to qualified investigators, where there is an allegation of bullying, harassment, discrimination or victimisation. It was launched across HMPPS in December 2023. It is therefore too early to provide annual figures for the numbers of allegation of misconduct it has received.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
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.
Answered by Edward Argar
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.