Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on tackling extremism within prisons.

I refer my Hon. Friend, the Member for Stockton South, to the answer given by my predecessor on Wednesday 29 June 2022 to Question 23808, and include a direct link to that answer from Written Questions, Answers and Statements – UIN 23808.

As outlined in that previous answer, following the tragic attacks in 2019 and 2020 at Fishmongers’ Hall, Whitemoor Prison, Streatham and Reading, we have overhauled our approach to counter terrorism in prisons. Through the CT Step Up Programme, we have uplifted our capacity and addressed gaps in our capabilities to tackle the terrorist threat, including:

• Establishing a new central hub to improve intelligence sharing between MI5, the Police, and HMPPS; and
• Developing our new Counter Terrorism Assessment and Rehabilitation Centre for expert psychologists and specialist staff to research, implement and evaluate special programmes to draw offenders away from extremism.

We have also ended the automatic early release of terrorists through the Terrorist Offenders Act 2020 and introduced a 14-year minimum jail term for the most dangerous terrorist offenders through the Counter Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021. These vital laws mark the largest overhaul of terrorist legislation in decades.