Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the cost of the provision of healthcare at HMP Wandsworth in the last 12 months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The total cost of the contract that NHS England has commissioned for healthcare services at HMP Wandsworth, provided by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, is £14,008,787.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals for secondary healthcare treatment for prisoners at HMP Wandsworth were made in each year since 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
NHS England has advised that it is unable to provide information prior to 1 September 2019, due to a new contract commencing with a new healthcare provider. The total number of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth referred to secondary healthcare treatment between 1 September 2019 and 11 March 2024, is 661. The number of these referrals which were missed is not held.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals for secondary healthcare treatment for prisoners at HMP Wandsworth were missed in each year since 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
NHS England has advised that it is unable to provide information prior to 1 September 2019, due to a new contract commencing with a new healthcare provider. The total number of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth referred to secondary healthcare treatment between 1 September 2019 and 11 March 2024, is 661. The number of these referrals which were missed is not held.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to open the healthcare centre at HMP Wandsworth.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The healthcare unit is expected to open in the coming weeks, once a number of IT hardware issues and telephony have been resolved. Its delay in opening is due to supply chain issues which we are working to expediate.
The cost to the public purse of this delay is being evaluated and cannot be confirmed at present.
The refurbishment of healthcare facilities at HMP Wandsworth is part of the wider decisive action we are taking to improve safety and conditions at the prison, including boosting staffing levels and investing millions into upgrades such as rolling out new CCTV, installing new windows and repairing roofs.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the healthcare centre at HMP Wandsworth did not open in October 2021; and what the cost to the public purse was of the change in opening date.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The healthcare unit is expected to open in the coming weeks, once a number of IT hardware issues and telephony have been resolved. Its delay in opening is due to supply chain issues which we are working to expediate.
The cost to the public purse of this delay is being evaluated and cannot be confirmed at present.
The refurbishment of healthcare facilities at HMP Wandsworth is part of the wider decisive action we are taking to improve safety and conditions at the prison, including boosting staffing levels and investing millions into upgrades such as rolling out new CCTV, installing new windows and repairing roofs.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers were in (a) training or (b) probation at HMP Wandsworth on the first Monday of each month in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The requested information is shown in the tables below.
Number of Prison Officers in initial training at HMP Wandsworth, Mar 2023 – Feb 2024:
Date | 6 Mar | 3 Apr | 1 May | 5 Jun | 3 Jul | 7 Aug | 4 Sep | 2 Oct | 6 Nov | 4 Dec | 1 Jan | 5 Feb |
Number of Prison Officers in initial training | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 25 | 31 | 34 | 18 | 24 | 48 | 48 | 74 |
Number of Prison Officers on probation at HMP Wandsworth, Mar 2023 – Feb 2024:
Date | 6 Mar | 3 Apr | 1 May | 5 Jun | 3 Jul | 7 Aug | 4 Sep | 2 Oct | 6 Nov | 4 Dec | 1 Jan | 5 Feb |
Number of Prison Officers on probation | 49 | 52 | 53 | 51 | 48 | 44 | 42 | 58 | 62 | 54 | 61 | 66 |
The officers in the above table are those on probation during their first 12 months in post. Ensuring prisons are sufficiently resourced and that we retain levels of experience are fundamental to delivering quality outcomes in prisons. That is why we are targeting the drivers of staff resignations and taking steps to improve recruitment levels through innovative approaches such as support under the national HMPPS Brand campaign and our use of incentives scheme to target prisons where there is the greatest need, which HMP Wandsworth benefit from.
Despite a challenging labour market, the Ministry of Justice has seen an improving national staffing picture within prisons. The number of frontline (Band 3-5) prison officers increased by 1,634 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) (7.6 per cent) in the year to December 2023, to 23,266 FTE. Over the same period, there was a fall in the resignation rate among Band 3-5 officers of 2.4 percentage points. At HMP Wandsworth, there has been an increase of 21 FTE Band 3-5 prison officers in the most recent quarterly statistics (September 2023 - December 2023).
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been paid to prison officers at HMP Wandsworth as Payment Plus in each year since 1 January 2020.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
“Payment Plus” is a form of overtime, used to cover any vacancies and ensure that the minimum staffing level required by the Regime Management Plan is met, and that a safe and decent regime can be delivered.
HMP Wandsworth is being provided with continuing support through local detached duty staff and allocated “Payment Plus” hours. The prison regularly reviews the level of regime it is able safely to deliver and will continue to receive support as required.
The money spent on “Payment Plus” at HMP Wandsworth since 1 January 2020 is provided in the table below:
Period | Payment Plus (£)1 |
1 Jan 2020 – 31 Mar 2020 | 330,917 |
1 Apr 2020 – 31 Mar 2021 | 975,818 |
1 Apr 2021 – 31 Mar 2022 | 860,960 |
1 Apr 2022 – 31 Mar 2023 | 1,261,456 |
1 Apr 2023 – 31 Jan 2024 | 1,209,806 |
1These are provisional figures, which may include work at other establishments by staff based at HMP Wandsworth.
We have committed to recruiting up to 5,000 additional prison officers across public and private prisons by the mid-2020s.
There has been a fall in the resignation rate among Band 3-5 officers, of 2.4 percentage points in the year up to 30 December 2023 compared to the previous year.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers were on long-term sick leave at HMP Wandsworth on the first Monday of each month in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The requested information is shown in the tables below.
Number of Prison Officers at HMP Wandsworth on short-term sick leave, Mar 2023 – Feb 2024:
Date | 6 Mar | 3 Apr | 1 May | 5 Jun | 3 Jul | 7 Aug | 4 Sep | 2 Oct | 6 Nov | 4 Dec | 1 Jan | 5 Feb |
Number of Prison Officers on short-term sick leave | 17 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 14 |
Number of Prison Officers at HMP Wandsworth on long-term sick leave, Mar 2023 – Feb 2024:
Date | 6 Mar | 3 Apr | 1 May | 5 Jun | 3 Jul | 7 Aug | 4 Sep | 2 Oct | 6 Nov | 4 Dec | 1 Jan | 5 Feb |
Number of Prison Officers on long-term sick leave | 14 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 |
Note:
Long-term sickness is defined as a period of sickness consisting of 29 or more calendar days.
HMP Wandsworth has robust weekly absence management processes in place to ensure that those who are absent because of sickness are being appropriately managed. This includes a review of all sickness absence (short and long-term), the reason for absences and ensuring appropriate support is being provided where required.
Those on continuing long-term sickness absence will be managed through a Formal Absence Review Meeting with the Governor, to explore whether they are fit to remain employed or if they can return to work in a different role.
HMPPS is focused on reducing its sickness absence rates through the support currently offered to staff and managers, including a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme that provides the workforce with access to confidential support and counselling services. This is in addition to the organisation’s Occupational Health Service that supports staff and management with medical advice, and HMPPS’ multitude of staff networks that are part of HMPPS’ commitment to ensuring our staff feel supported in their roles.