Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for (a) recruitment and posting of the extra prison officers and (b) the special measures for vulnerable and mentally ill inmates announced in November 2016.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Justice Secretary announced major reforms to the prison system in the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper published on 3 November, to cut reoffending and help reduce crime.
To achieve this, we are investing more than £100 million to boost the frontline with 2,500 extra staff by the end of 2018. This will help drive forward our reforms to reduce violence, improve standards and increase the staff to prisoner ratio. One of our first steps will be to invest an extra £14 million at 10 priority sites, including HMP Berwyn in Wales, which will pay for an extra 400 prison officers.
Governors are critical to the successful delivery of safe prisons. That is why from April 2017, we are giving governors the power and budget to determine how their prisons are run. This includes governors having the authority to do their own workforce planning, decide what staffing structures best meets their local needs and deciding how to deploy extra staff in prisons.
With regards to special measures for vulnerable and mentally ill inmates, it is vitally important that we provide the appropriate mental health care to prisoners to support their rehabilitation. That is why we are giving prison governors more say in delivering healthcare services in their prisons.
As part of these reforms, we will move to a joint approach to commissioning health services in England. Governors, working closely with local health commissioners and clinical experts, will be involved in the decision making process at each stage of the commissioning cycle. In Wales, where health is a devolved matter, we will liaise with the responsible Local Health Boards and the Welsh Government.
All prisons have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves.
All new intake prison officers receive mental health awareness training as part of their entry level training.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of causes of the increase in the prison population since 2004.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Government published in July 2016 “Story of the Prison Population 1993 – 2016”. This is available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the prison population.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Government is committed to transforming our prison estate to ensure prisons are safe, get offenders off drugs and into education and work. We will also improve the effectiveness of supervision in the community. This will reduce reoffending and the need for prison places.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans she has to bring into force section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Government is committed to commencing section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 and will do so as soon as possible.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost to the public purse is of restarting the tendering process for the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme; and what recent steps he has taken to improve the subcontracting process of charities selected as preferred tenders.
Answered by Andrew Selous
No Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) has withdrawn from the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme. As part of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, CRCs are required to deliver the services set out in their contract. CRCs can decide to contract with other organisations to deliver some of those services. If these sub-contractors decide to no longer provide services, the CRC will decide whether to re-tender or provide the service themselves. This should not affect the number of offenders able to access the services.
We are not restarting the tendering process for probation providers. CRCs are in the process of finalising their supply chains. Contract Management Teams closely monitor arrangements to ensure consistency of service provision and that prime and sub-contractors comply with the terms of an Industry Standard Partnering Agreement set out in the original tender documents.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what effect the withdrawal of service providers from the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme has had on the projected numbers of prisoners able to take part in that programme.
Answered by Andrew Selous
No Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) has withdrawn from the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme. As part of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, CRCs are required to deliver the services set out in their contract. CRCs can decide to contract with other organisations to deliver some of those services. If these sub-contractors decide to no longer provide services, the CRC will decide whether to re-tender or provide the service themselves. This should not affect the number of offenders able to access the services.
We are not restarting the tendering process for probation providers. CRCs are in the process of finalising their supply chains. Contract Management Teams closely monitor arrangements to ensure consistency of service provision and that prime and sub-contractors comply with the terms of an Industry Standard Partnering Agreement set out in the original tender documents.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether G4S was invited by his Department to retender for the contracts to run Rainsbrook and Medway Secure Training Centres under its new trading name; and what weight that company's record in carrying out its previous contractual roles has in the decision-making process.
Answered by Andrew Selous
G4S Care and Justice (UK) Ltd commenced as and remained the legal entity and prime contractor throughout the Secure Training Centre retendering process and as such was subject to robust and rigorous assessment as ‘G4S Care and Justice (UK) Ltd’ at the pre-qualification stage of the competition.
The name ‘Inspiring Futures’ only represents a rebranding of the work that G4S Care and Justice (UK) Ltd undertakes in the youth detention arena.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many contracts relating to (a) secure training centres and (b) prisons MTC Novo have been awarded; and how many such contracts that firm is currently under consideration for.
Answered by Andrew Selous
The Ministry of Justice holds contract information related to (a) secure training centres and (b) prisons, and can confirm that MTCnovo Limited have been awarded one contract associated with Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre. At present MTCnovo Limited are not under consideration for any further secure training centre or prison contracts.Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which firms tendered to take over the G4S contracts at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre.
Answered by Andrew Selous
The Ministry of Justice holds this information and can confirm the following 5 bidders submitted tenders in last year’s competition for Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre:
• Diagrama Foundation
• G4S Care and Justice (UK) Limited
• Ingeus UK Limited
• MTCnovo Limited
• Sodexo Limited