Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his speech of 10 July 2018 to the Centre for Social Justice, how much his Department is investing into training for prison staff on preserving evidence.

We are developing a new training package for prison staff to improve the preservation of evidence following a crime in prison. This will help make sure the police and CPS have access to the best information, in good time, to support investigations; make charging decisions and prosecute cases successfully. The cost of developing and delivering this new training package is being met from within HMPPS’ existing budgets.

By giving prison staff the right tools to deal with crime effectively we can make staff and prisoners safer - as well as sending a message to offenders that rehabilitation is the only endeavour worth pursuing in prison.