Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions the National Tactical Response Group was deployed in the youth estate in each year since 2015, broken down by institution type.

Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The information requested could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the National Tactical Response Group were deployed to prisons in 2023.

Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 19 February 2024 to Question 13524: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-02-07/13524.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times a (a) Tornado and (b) national tactical response team was deployed to HMP Lowdham Grange in the last 24 months.

Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) are a specialist resource that provide intervention options to the Silver and Gold commanders. NTRG is a highly trained team that provide expertise in technical interventions that would carry higher risk of failure or injury, and which require skills and equipment limited only to NTRG staff.

Operation Tornado is a national mutual aid plan by which prisons support one another in the event of a serious incident or occurrence requiring a reinforcement of staff. Operation Tornado is employed by HMPPS for three main reasons:

• In response to a serious incident requiring a reinforcement of staff.
• In response to other events or crisis requiring additional staff, who may not necessarily need to be Tornado trained.
• To aid the transfer of prisoners in the event of a serious incident or the threat of one (with the GOLD commander’s agreement).

In the 24 months from January 2022 there were 3 Tornado activations.

In the 24 months from January 2022 there were 40 national tactical response team deployments.

The Ministry of Justice took over the running of HMP Lowdham Grange on 18 December 2023 for an interim period to improve safety and security at the prison.

The immediate steps to stabilise the prison include:

• Deploying a new Governor to take command of the establishment
• Bringing in experienced HMPPS staff, including prison officers to bolster staffing levels and additional managers to strengthen leadership at the prison
• Launching an immediate review of conditions and compliance at the prison so remedial action can be taken to improve stability, security and safety.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the National Tactical Response Group has been deployed in each year since 2018.

Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) are a specialist resource that provide intervention options to the Silver and Gold commanders. NTRG is a highly trained team that provide expertise in technical interventions that would carry higher risk of failure or injury, and which require skills and equipment limited only to NTRG staff.

The information requested can be found in the table(s) below.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times Nico 9 stun grenades were used in each youth offender institution in each year since 2017.

Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

HMPPS uses Nico 9 Stun grenades as a distraction device during planned interventions as part of an agreed tactical plan. They can only be employed by National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) staff who are highly trained in their use.

The table below states how many times Nico 9 stun grenades were used in each Youth Offender Institution in each year since 2017.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times (a) the National Dog and Technical Support Group was deployed to Youth Offender Institutes and (b) those dogs were used in those deployments in each year since 2017.

Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The National Dog and Technical Support Group (NDTSG) provides prison dogs for patrol and detection purposes and a wide range of technical support including the transmission of audio and visual information, and the capability to capture evidence of an incident.

The table below states how many times NDTSG was deployed to each Youth Offenders Institute and how many times those dogs were used in those deployments in each year since 2017.

“–” indicates where dog uses are not recorded pre-2020.

NDTSG is deployed to support the National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) with a wide range of technical support including the transmission of audio and visual information, and the capability to capture evidence of an incident. As shown by the number of dog uses, the increased deployment of NDTSG is not necessarily indicative of an increase in the use of dogs. Equally, where dog uses have increased, this may be due to an increase in proactive searches and patrols at establishments, and is not necessarily indicative of responses to disorder.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the National Dog and Technical Support Group was deployed to each youth offender institution in each year since 2017.

Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The National Dog and Technical Support Group (NDTSG) provides prison dogs for patrol and detection purposes and a wide range of technical support including the transmission of audio and visual information, and the capability to capture evidence of an incident.

The table below states how many times NDTSG was deployed to each Youth Offenders Institute and how many times those dogs were used in those deployments in each year since 2017.

“–” indicates where dog uses are not recorded pre-2020.

NDTSG is deployed to support the National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) with a wide range of technical support including the transmission of audio and visual information, and the capability to capture evidence of an incident. As shown by the number of dog uses, the increased deployment of NDTSG is not necessarily indicative of an increase in the use of dogs. Equally, where dog uses have increased, this may be due to an increase in proactive searches and patrols at establishments, and is not necessarily indicative of responses to disorder.

Found: out of hours cover, HMPPS is proposing a modest rise to the ORRU Allowances (formerly National Tactical Response Group

Found: Technical Support Group NHS National Health Service NLW National Living Wage NTRG National Tactical Response Group

Found: National Tactical Response Group: A dedicated group based at two national training centres.

Found: Technical Support Group NHS National Health Service NLW National Living Wage NTRG National Tactical Response Group

Found: Service Improvement Team. 2 The definitions of HOMES restraint equipment have been set by National Tactical Response Group

Found: out of hours cover, HMPPS is proposing a modest rise to the ORRU Allowances (formerly National Tactical Response Group

Found: Service Improvement Team. 2 The definitions of HOMES restraint equipment have been set by National Tactical Response Group

Found: Service Improvement Team. 2 The definitions of HOMES restraint equipment have been set by National Tactical Response Group

Found: Service Improvement Team. 2 The definitions of HOMES restraint equipment have been set by National Tactical Response Group