Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's definition is of (a) full prison regime and (b) near full prison regime.

Each prison has a Regime Management Plan, which sets out the activities that need to be provided for. A “full regime” – normally described as “Green” on the RAG (Red/Amber/Green) rating system – means that, as the prison is fully staffed on the given day, all planned activities can take place and the establishment is able to meet all the relevant expectations. A “near-full” (Green/Amber) regime means that while the full range of activities can be delivered, there may be some limitations attached to work with low priority.

How any resource shortage is managed is generally at the Governor’s discretion: where necessary, the regime of activities may be curtailed in order to facilitate higher priority work. In all cases, the focus is on delivering consistent, safe, decent, secure and rehabilitative regimes.