Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the supply of illegal drugs into prisons, including through improved searching, staff screening and security technology.

Prisons in England and Wales have a range of specialist staff and equipment to tackle the smuggling of contraband into prisons, including drugs. This includes X-ray body scanners, airport-style Enhanced Gate Security, X-ray baggage scanners, detection dogs, and other specialist equipment. In addition, local security strategies allow for routine and random rub-down searches of prison officers and other staff upon entry to, or within, prisons.

This year we are investing over £40 million in physical security measures across 34 prisons, including £10 million on anti-drone measures, such as window replacements, external window grilles and specialist netting across 15 priority prisons.

All HMPPS prison staff are subject to rigorous pre-employment security vetting checks. These checks enable the organisation to assess whether candidates pose a risk to the safety and security of HMPPS information, assets, staff, and offenders, and whether they demonstrate the standards and core values expected of everyone working within HMPPS.

While the vast majority of prison staff act with integrity, HMPPS recognises the risk of corruption and is committed to tackling it at all levels. HMPPS’s Counter Corruption Unit works proactively with prisons and police to deter and disrupt staff wrongdoing.

Prison security must be dynamic and be able to respond to shifting risks as they manifest. We regularly review our security countermeasures capabilities and will not hesitate to adjust our approach as needed and use all the tools at our disposal.