Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what measures the Government plans to take to address the concerns expressed by the Chief Inspector of Prisons in his Annual Report for 2014-15, published on 15 July 2015; and what those measures will be on each of the four assessed outcomes referred to in the introduction to that report.

The Ministry of Justice welcomed the scrutiny brought by the Chief Inspector of Prisons in his annual report published in July 2015. Steps have been taken at each of the prisons inspected during 2014-15 to address the specific recommendations made, and detailed action plans put in place. We are also seeking to address the Chief Inspector’s comments on each of the four outcomes of safety, respect, purposeful activity and resettlement, and we are tackling the risks of increased violence highlighted by the Chief Inspector.

The National Offender Management Service is committed to running safe prisons. We are holding a more violent prison population; the number of people sentenced to prison for violent offences has increased by 30% in the last 10 years. In addition the illicit use of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) has been a significant factor in fuelling violence in prisons. This Government has introduced two new offences through the Serious Crime Act 2015 for being in possession of a knife or other offensive weapon within a prison without authorisation, and throwing of items, including NPS over a prison wall without authorisation. This offence will help to control these substances in prison. We are also introducing an offence of possession of NPS in the prison estate.

NOMS also operates a violence reduction project to gain a better understanding of the causes of the current levels of violence in prisons and to ensure that there is strengthened handling of it, in terms of both prevention and response. A joint national protocol between the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), the CPS, and ACPO was published in February 2015 with the purpose of ensuring a nationally consistent approach to the referral and prosecution of crimes in prison.

The Chief Inspector of Prisons found that “respect” (how a prisoner is treated) held up best amongst their four areas of inspection. We are continuing to take forward the strengths he highlighted which included: good staff/prisoner relationships, increased use of prisoner peer mentors and good practice in health care.

We noted the Chief Inspector’s concerns about “purposeful activity”. We want prisons to be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition, with incentives for prisoners to learn and for prison staff to prioritise education and work. The hours worked by prisoners in industrial occupations has already risen from 10.6 million hours in 2010/2011 to 14.2 million hours in the 2013-2014.

Finally in relation to resettlement (preparing prisoners for their release into the community) we have put in place an unprecedented nationwide ‘through the prison gate’ resettlement service, meaning most offenders are given continuous support by one provider from custody into the community. Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) launched their ‘Through the Gate’ service on 1 May 2015. This service provides offenders with support to find accommodation and jobs, finance and debt advice, and support for sex workers and victims of domestic violence.