Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of security arrangements at Wandsworth Prison.

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) carries out a programme of unannounced audits across the prison estate, to ensure adequate operational standards are being maintained within individual establishments.

The Annual Prison Performance Ratings published on gov.uk include the latest security audit score for each prison. The most recent security audit data is available here: Security audit - Justice Data.

We have invested £100 million since 2019 on measures such as enhanced gate security with x-ray body scanners which has driven up the finds of drugs, weapons and other contraband, including tools that could be used to aid an escape from prison. As of October 2022, we had recorded 28,626 positive indications through our X-ray scanners, helping to tackle the supply of illicit contraband.