Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2017 to Question 64699, whether she plans further to increase the number of prison service staff working on investigations into alleged corruption in prisons.

The vast majority of prison staff undertake their duties with honesty and integrity. But this Government is committed to investigating and eliminating corruption, where it exists, to ensure prisons remain a safe and secure environment for staff, prisoners and visitors.

A dedicated team of officials work to prevent and tackle corruption, and investigate alleged corruption, across prisons and probation. In addition to this, all prisons have an identified Local Corruption Prevention Manager (LCPM), responsible for developing intelligence, raising awareness of corruption prevention and supporting staff to report any corruption related concerns. And, in support of our commitment to tackle this threat, we have just invested an extra £3 million to improve intelligence analysis and searching capability across prisons and probation – this investment will increase our ability to identify and tackle corruption.

A range of measures set out in the recent Prison Safety and Reform White Paper will further bolster our response to driving out corruption in prisons. Our new approach will drive closer working with the police; deliver tougher responses with robust outcomes; and increase support and training for staff. In carrying out this work we will continue to ensure that sufficient resources remain available to tackle the threat now and for the future.