Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve the retention rate of experienced prison officers.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We commend our hard-working prison officers who do a vital job in protecting the public every day, often in very challenging, difficult and dangerous circumstances.
We want prison officers to stay and progress their careers. We’ve improved induction processes to ease transition into the job, provide care and support for our staff and offer additional training. These measures are part of the work we are doing directly with Governors to address local issues and ensure experienced staff and new recruits remain in the service.
The Prison Officer Recruitment and Retention Programme has been established to meet the target of 2,500 net increase in prison officers by December 2018, announced in the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper.
In order to safeguard the White Paper investment and maintain the experience of existing staff, we are focusing on ways to reduce attrition levels. The Retention Framework, Toolkit and Action Plan was launched in August 2017, designed to support prisons in identifying drivers of attrition and put in place targeted local interventions. This approach was piloted at a number of establishments across the estate and the results are currently being evaluated. The findings, including additional guidance on best practice, will shortly be shared with Senior Managers and HR professional across HMPPS.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support the Government provides to survivors of the Harrods bombing in 1983.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Government is committed to ensuring that victims of historical as well as recent terrorist attacks receive the help and support they need.
Under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime in England and Wales, victims of terrorism have enhanced entitlements to support as victims of the most serious crime.
The Ministry of Justice fund a range of organisations for the provision of specialist, emotional and practical support to family members bereaved by crime including terrorist attacks, and fund the Peace Foundation which provides specialist support specifically for victims of terrorism.
Since 2015, the majority of funding and support provision for victims of crime in England and Wales has been devolved to Police and Crime Commissioners. This support provision encompasses a range of specialist, practical and emotional support based on the needs of the individual.
In 1983, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme was administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB). CICB annual reports show that between 1983 and 1986, 190 applications for compensation were received that related to the Harrods bombing, but do not contain details of how many of those applications resulted in an award being made. As the Scheme has a number of eligibility criteria, no estimate can be made of the number of survivors who might be entitled to receive compensation.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimates he has made of the number of survivors of the Harrods bombing in 1983 who (a) are entitled to compensation and (b) have received compensation.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Government is committed to ensuring that victims of historical as well as recent terrorist attacks receive the help and support they need.
Under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime in England and Wales, victims of terrorism have enhanced entitlements to support as victims of the most serious crime.
The Ministry of Justice fund a range of organisations for the provision of specialist, emotional and practical support to family members bereaved by crime including terrorist attacks, and fund the Peace Foundation which provides specialist support specifically for victims of terrorism.
Since 2015, the majority of funding and support provision for victims of crime in England and Wales has been devolved to Police and Crime Commissioners. This support provision encompasses a range of specialist, practical and emotional support based on the needs of the individual.
In 1983, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme was administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB). CICB annual reports show that between 1983 and 1986, 190 applications for compensation were received that related to the Harrods bombing, but do not contain details of how many of those applications resulted in an award being made. As the Scheme has a number of eligibility criteria, no estimate can be made of the number of survivors who might be entitled to receive compensation.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many requests to authorise a removal from association as specified in Paragraph 2(B) of Rule 49 of the Prisons and Young Offender Institution Offender Rules he received from Prison Governors in 2017; and how many of those requests for removal from association were granted.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Prison and Young Offender Institution (YOI) Rule 49 (Removal From Association - RFA) permits a Governor to segregate a young person from others (either generally or for particular purposes). Segregation under this rule must be desirable either for the maintenance of good order or discipline, or for the young person’s own interests.
Although Rule 49 (2b) provides that the governor must obtain leave from the Secretary of State in writing to authorise continuing segregation beyond 42 days, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service’s policy on segregation mandates that young people cannot be segregated beyond 21 days without this leave being obtained.
The safety and welfare of all young people held in custody is one of our highest priorities. When young people in custody are putting themselves or others at risk, segregation can be used as a last resort for limited periods of time when no other form of intervention is suitable. This is closely monitored by specialist staff and accompanied by a strategy of intervention.
The table below provides the number of applications received for authorisation of continued RFA after 21 days and 42 days as well as the number of applications that were approved during 2017.
| RFA beyond 21 days | RFA beyond 42 days |
No of applications received | 73 | 27 |
No of applications approved | 73 | 27 |
NB : All applications received were approved
The numbers above represent occurrences and not individual young people
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many requests to authorise a removal from association under paragraph 2(C) of Rule 49 of the Prisons and Young Offender Institution Offender Rules 2000 he received from governors in 2017; and many of those requests were granted.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Prison and Young Offender Institution (YOI) Rule 49 (Removal From Association - RFA) permits a Governor to segregate a young person from others (either generally or for particular purposes). Segregation under this rule must be desirable either for the maintenance of good order or discipline, or for the young person’s own interests.
Although Rule 49 (2b) provides that the governor must obtain leave from the Secretary of State in writing to authorise continuing segregation beyond 42 days, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service’s policy on segregation mandates that young people cannot be segregated beyond 21 days without this leave being obtained.
The safety and welfare of all young people held in custody is one of our highest priorities. When young people in custody are putting themselves or others at risk, segregation can be used as a last resort for limited periods of time when no other form of intervention is suitable. This is closely monitored by specialist staff and accompanied by a strategy of intervention.
The table below provides the number of applications received for authorisation of continued RFA after 21 days and 42 days as well as the number of applications that were approved during 2017.
| RFA beyond 21 days | RFA beyond 42 days |
No of applications received | 73 | 27 |
No of applications approved | 73 | 27 |
NB : All applications received were approved
The numbers above represent occurrences and not individual young people
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of hours spent in education, purposeful activity and association by inmates of HM Feltham Young Offenders Institution since 2010.
Answered by Phillip Lee
I am committed to improving the education offer and tailoring it to the individual needs of young people. This will include ensuring that there is sufficient time in the day for access to vocational activities, sports, and health and behavioural interventions as well as academic education. We are working with education providers and YOI sites to improve flexibility of provision within the 30 hour week, to drive delivery of a wide range of activities alongside traditional classroom based learning.
Across both sites at Feltham, there are more than 100 prison officers currently in training – with the first new officers beginning to arrive on the landings this month. This will help to provide better access to education and get young people engaged in meaningful activities which will help them to turn away from crime.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of incidents where Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint techniques were deployed in response to (a) prisoner on staff, (b) prisoner on prisoner and (c) multi-perpetrator fights at HM Feltham Young Offenders Institution since 2010.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The safety and welfare of young people held in custody is one of the highest priorities for the Youth Custody Service (YCS). The YCS has rolled out the Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) technique for staff to use on young people in all Young Offender Institutes and Secure Training Centres – including Her Majesty’s Young Offender Institute (HMYOI) Feltham. MMPR has been specifically designed to reduce the use of physical restraint on young people by focusing on de-escalation techniques. It is only to be used as a last resort when there are no other suitable interventions available.
See the data below relating to the use if the (MMPR) technique for HMYOI Feltham.
| Oct-16 | Nov-16 | Dec-16 | Jan-17 | Feb-17 | Mar-17 |
Total use of MMPR incidents | 83 | 103 | 62 | 51 | 66 | 77 |
- Preventing damage to property | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
- Preventing an escape/abscond | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
- Good Order and Security | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
- Preventing harm to self | 10 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 17 |
- Prevent harm to third party | 67 | 85 | 51 | 42 | 50 | 55 |
- Incitement | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Notes:
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce incidences of violence in HM Feltham Young Offenders Institution.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Keeping all children and young people in custody safe is a key priority for the Youth Custody Service. We are taking active steps to address and reduce the levels of violence for all those who live and work within the Youth Estate, including Feltham.
A number of initiatives have recently been implemented to tackle violence and drive performance improvements within the Youth Estate. A holistic style approach to managing behaviour within the youth estate has led to the implementation of Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) in all under-18 Young Offender Institutions (YOI) and Secure Training Centres. In public sector Young Offender Institutions, local psychological teams have been put in place to carry out assessments of young people involved in multiple perpetrator/serious assaults. A new structured approach to the delivery of interventions for young people has been introduced to ensure that interventions delivered are either accredited or formally approved. Restorative justice practises have also been rolled out.
At Feltham specifically, we have around 100 new officers currently in training - with the first officers on the landings in April - helping to get to the root causes of violence and improve safety.
In addition, the first Enhanced Support Unit within the Youth Estate opened at Feltham in November 2017 to support and manage young people who are deemed to have exceptionally complex needs and high-risk behaviours.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the (a) number of instances of, (b) average length of time and (c) average number of hours per day people aged 18 were held in solitary confinement in the youth secure estate in (i) England and (ii) Wales since 2010.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The safety and welfare of young people held in custody is one of our highest priorities and is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system. We are committed to reforming youth custody so that it is safer for both young people and staff and better equipped to help young people turn their lives around.
There are some occasions, when young people in custody are putting themselves or others at risk, during which segregation can be used as a last resort for limited periods of time when no other form of intervention is suitable.
Any decision to remove a young person from association is subject to regular review and a range of safeguarding measures are in place to ensure appropriate oversight of their care. There are careful limits placed on the length of time for which young people can be removed from association without review of the decision to remove.