Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what additional resources he has provided to prison governors in the last 12 months to help them foster a good working environment for their staff.

For prisons to be effective, we must get the basics right. This means prisons that are decent, with clean wings and humane living conditions. Last summer, we announced we would be investing £30 million in prisons to enhance safety, security and decency across the estate. As announced in the 2018 Budget, an additional £30 million is also being spent on prisons this financial year on top of the £30 million announced in July. This is going towards further improvements to safety, security and decency on top of those already announced.

Prison officer numbers are at their highest in five years, which is vital to ensuring prisons are safe, secure and decent. We have recruited over 4,700 new prison officers across the country since October 2016 to improve safety and help turn offenders’ lives around. The recruitment drive will continue until we reach required levels across the prison estate, ensuring prisons can fulfil their purpose - protecting the public, reducing reoffending and crucially, rehabilitating offenders.

As part of the Offender Management in Custody model (OMiC), Key Worker roles are being introduced to support the rehabilitative culture and relationship between Prison Officers and prisoners.