Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions was the Tornado Team were called out to prisons in each month since January 20167; and what the incidents were that it was called out for.

Tornado teams are comprised of prison officers based in prison establishments who are trained to an advanced level of C&R. We have over 2000 trained staff across the country and they are grouped into Tornado teams made up of 12 officers and two commanders (a unit).

Between 1/1/17 to date – Tornado teams have been deployed on a total of 23 occasions. In the majority of cases, Tornado teams are deployed as a precaution, and the resolution of the incident is provided by local staff.

Tornado Teams can be deployed for a variety of incidents including Concerted Indiscipline, Regime Support following an incident, Assisting in searching and Incidents at Height