Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, at which private prisons have directors shared data on staffing levels with on-site controllers in each of the last three years.

As we have previously stated all staffing matters lies with Contractors. There is no requirement in the contracts to agree staffing levels with the Ministry of Justice.

The HMPPS Controller at each privately managed prison has regular review meetings with the contractor against a range of indicators that will reflect numbers of staff in post, recruitment, training, sickness, and attrition. Any concerns in relation to these performance indicators including staff numbers are discussed at these meetings. Where action is needed, progress is monitored by the Controller and escalated within HMPPS where appropriate action can be taken in accordance with the contract.

Private providers continue to play an important role in the prison estate and I can assure you that performance of all providers is closely monitored and we will not hesitate to take action where standards fall short.