Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many deaths have been recorded at HMP Wandsworth since 30 June 2023.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Deaths recorded by prison are published as part of our Safety in Custody statistics, updated quarterly, and available in the Deaths Data Tool at the following link: Safety in custody: quarterly update to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Please note that deaths at Wandsworth are currently published from 30 June 2023 – end of December 2023. Figures to the end of March 2024 are not due for publication until April 2024 and cannot be released at this time.

Deaths in prison custody figures include all deaths of prisoners arising from incidents during prison custody. They include deaths of prisoners while released on temporary license (ROTL) for medical reasons but exclude other types of ROTL where the state has less direct responsibility.

In addition to deaths in prison custody which occur in hospitals, hospices or nursing homes, a small proportion will occur while in an ambulance on the way to hospital, while the prisoner is under escort.

Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners.

We have implemented a revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) case management approach across the prison estate. Revisions in ACCT v6 include a stronger emphasis on taking a person-centred approach; better multi-disciplinary team working; a consistent quality assurance process and an improved focus on identifying and addressing an individual’s risks, triggers and protective factors.

We are implementing a new safety training package for staff. It brings together related safety topics, including suicide and self-harm prevention and understanding risks, triggers and protective factors.

We fund Samaritans through a grant providing total funding of just under £2 million between 2022 and 2025. This is primarily for the delivery of the Listener scheme (through which selected prisoners are trained to provide support to fellow prisoners in emotional distress).

We have also worked with Samaritans to develop a postvention response to providing support in the period following a self-inflicted death in order to reduce the risk of further deaths. This has been successfully piloted and the renewed grant includes funding for this service to be maintained until March 2025.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help reduce discrimination faced by people of restricted growth.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to improving life choices and opportunities for disabled people in their private lives, in their communities and in employment. We want everyone, including people of restricted growth, to live their lives free from discrimination and harassment.

The Equality Act 2010 may protect people of restricted growth on the grounds of disability, depending on the particular circumstances. The 2010 Act defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”. An employer or a service provider is required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not put at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people.

On 5 February 2024 we published the final Disability Action Plan together with the independent analysis of the consultation findings. The Disability Action Plan sets out 32 practical actions in 14 different areas which the government will take forward over the next 12 months, with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations, and other government departments and public service providers, to improve disabled people’s daily lives, as well as laying the foundations for longer term change.

Any disabled person who may have been personally discriminated against in employment or provision of services because of a disability may contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), the government helpline established to provide free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns. The EASS can be contacted via their website at www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/, or by telephone on 0808 8000082.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the prevalence of abuse of people of restricted growth.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

We have a robust legislative framework to respond to all forms of hate crime, including those which target a person’s disability.

Whilst the police are operationally independent and work in line with the College of Policing’s operational guidance to respond to hate crime, we expect them to fully investigate these offences and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.

The Government is pleased to see the overall reduction in police-recorded hate crime in the year ending March 2023, including a 1% reduction in disability hate crime compared with the previous year. However, any instance is one too many and we remain absolutely committed to ensuring these offences are stamped out.

A person of restricted growth is not necessarily a disabled person. A disability hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s disability or perceived disability, or any disability including physical disability, learning disability and mental health or developmental disorders. This will be a question of fact in each case.

Our absolute priority is to get more police onto our streets, cut crime, protect the public and bring more criminals to justice. We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need. We delivered our commitment to recruit an additional 20,000 officers by March 2023 and there are now over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, which is higher than the previous peak in March 2010 before the Police Uplift Programme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the document entitled the National Partnership Agreement for Health and Social Care for England: improving the quality of services for people in prison and those subject to statutory supervision by the probation service in the community 2022-2025, if she will make a comparative assessment with Cabinet colleagues of standards of healthcare received by (a) prisoners at HMP Wandsworth and (b) the general population.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

There are no plans to make such an assessment. As set out in the National Partnership Agreement for Health and Social Care for England, healthcare services in all prisons in England, including HMP Wandsworth, are commissioned by NHS England to national specifications, to make sure that prisoners receive the same standards of healthcare as the general population.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department plans to take to measure productivity in the prison service.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Across the Ministry of Justice, we are focused on improving productivity through streamlining and strengthening key processes and funding innovative schemes that will drive down reoffending, delivering better value for taxpayers and a more efficient justice system. The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates for productivity across the public sector, and my officials are working with them to improve the way that productivity is measured for the justice sector. HMPPS is also in the process of refreshing the staffing resource model for prisons, which will support productivity by refining how we attribute target staffing to delivery outcomes, and support prioritisation of resources at both a local and national level.

We are also investing in digital and technological initiatives in prisons, which will increase staff productivity by reducing administrative burden on staff. This means staff time can be spent more meaningfully on core, purposeful tasks, such as running the regime, building on staff-prisoner relationships, and engaging more effectively with vulnerable prisoners.

I welcome the Chancellor’s public sector productivity review and, as part of this, the Ministry of Justice has been working to identify new opportunities for improving productivity across HMPPS and the MoJ. As announced in the Spring Budget, the Government is investing £170m into the justice system over the next four years to improve productivity and deliver a justice system fit for the modern era. This includes a £6m investment to accelerate the development of digital services to replace legacy systems and improve productivity, and £16m to increase prison workshop activity to boost employability and focus resources on rehabilitative activities.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of conditions in Wandsworth prison on the health of (a) prisoners and (b) staff.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Prison Group Director for London is taking active measures to support the health and well-being of staff and prisoners at HMP Wandsworth. He conducts regular visits to assess and monitor conditions at the prison. Accompanied by lead representatives for Health, Safety and Wellbeing at His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, he meets regularly with the Governor to discuss any actions that need to be taken to address identified concerns.

In addition, monthly tripartite meetings are held between Regional Estates, Finance and Health and Safety representatives, where decency is a standing agenda item. A Senior Safety Lead has recently been appointed to support local initiatives and work to improve safety outcomes for prisoners. A Task and Finish Group has recently been set up to address concerns about the physical environment of the in-patient unit at HMP Wandsworth, to improve infection prevention and control.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to monitor the effects of conditions in HMP Wandsworth on the health and well-being of prisoners and staff.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Prison Group Director for London is taking active measures to support the health and well-being of staff and prisoners at HMP Wandsworth. He conducts regular visits to assess and monitor conditions at the prison. Accompanied by lead representatives for Health, Safety and Wellbeing at His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, he meets regularly with the Governor to discuss any actions that need to be taken to address identified concerns.

In addition, monthly tripartite meetings are held between Regional Estates, Finance and Health and Safety representatives, where decency is a standing agenda item. A Senior Safety Lead has recently been appointed to support local initiatives and work to improve safety outcomes for prisoners. A Task and Finish Group has recently been set up to address concerns about the physical environment of the in-patient unit at HMP Wandsworth, to improve infection prevention and control.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the cost of moving children's cancer services for South London and the South East of England to the Evelina.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is leading the reconfiguration of children’s cancer services for South London and South East England. At a meeting on 14 March 2024, NHS England confirmed their decision that the Principal Treatment Centre should be located at Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

NHS England’s financial impact assessment for the reconfiguration confirmed that the future Principal Treatment Centre would use a £20 million national capital contribution from NHS England, plus a contribution from their local health commissioners of between approximately £11 million to £14 million. The Evelina London option would also use £10 million of grant funding from the trust charity.

NHS England has made clear that as the future provider develops its outline business case and full business case, it will need to continue to demonstrate affordability with mitigations in place for associated risks. These business cases will require NHS England and the Department’s Joint Investment sub-Committee’s approval, before contractor procurement and construction, ahead of the Principal Treatment Centre becoming operational in October 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost was of the consultation on moving children's cancer services for South London and the South East of England.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold data on the cost of the consultation run by NHS England on the reconfiguration of children’s cancer services in South London and the South East.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of widening the availability of the shingles vaccination to those aged between 66 and 69 years old.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The potential merit of offering the Shingrix shingles vaccine to adults aged 65 years old from 1 September 2023 is to achieve population benefit from a vaccine which is predicted to provide longer lasting protection, meaning individuals can be vaccinated sooner and benefit for longer, compared to the previous shingles programme using the Zostavax vaccine.

This reduction in the age of eligibility is part of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice, that the roll-out of the 10-year expansion of the shingles programme should be done with a phased approach, to avoid undue additional pressure on National Health Service delivery services. The Shingrix two dose vaccine will be offered to those aged between 65 and 70 years old, until everyone aged 65 to 70 years old has been offered the vaccine, and then to those aged between 60 and 65 years old, until everyone aged 60 to 65 years old has been offered the vaccine. The vaccine would then be offered routinely from 60 years of age. Those over the age of 70 years old remain eligible until they turn 80 years old. Those aged 50 years old and over, who are at higher risk of serious complications as a result of having a severely weakened immune system, are also eligible.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on advertising the Back to Work Plan since November 2023 by advertising method.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

To date, the Department has not spent anything on advertising the Back to Work Plan.

Found: Current membership Sarah Champion MP (Labour, Rotherham) (Chair) Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP (Labour, Tooting

Found: Current membership Sarah Champion MP (Labour, Rotherham) (Chair) Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP (Labour,

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Sarah Champion (Chair); Dr Rosena Allin-Khan; Mr Richard Bacon;

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Sarah Champion (Chair); Dr Rosena Allin-Khan; Mr Richard Bacon;