Prisons: Private Sector

(asked on 26th June 2019) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2019 to Question 264474 on Prisons: Private Sector, how many sufficiently trained and experienced (a) prison custody officers and (b) other staff have contractors at each establishment told the Government they require to maintain safe and decent prisons.


Answered by
Robert Buckland Portrait
Robert Buckland
This question was answered on 4th July 2019

As we have stated previously, all staffing matters, including the responsibility of ensuring the availability of sufficiently trained and experienced staff to maintain safe and decent prisons, sit with contractors. There is no requirement in the contracts to agree staffing levels with the Ministry of Justice.

We do not hold data on the number of Prison Custody Officers certified. The role of the Controller is to monitor performance at the prison across a range of indicators. Any concerns in relation to these performance indicators are discussed with the provider, and, where necessary, appropriate action is 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.

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