To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


View sample alert

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Styal Prison: Health Services
Monday 29th June 2020

Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of barriers to access to healthcare for women prisoners at HMP Styal.

Answered by Lucy Frazer

Healthcare in prisons is provided by specially trained medical staff, and prisoners are able to benefit from the same range of services as they would in the community. All women are seen by healthcare professionals on arrival, and can call upon their services as and when they require while at the prison. NHS England has made available additional investment for healthcare services at HMP Styal, and this includes commissioning an additional midwifery post to develop the perinatal pathways.


Written Question
Prisoners: Coronavirus
Tuesday 16th June 2020

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners (1) meet the criteria for being considered clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID-19, and (2) are currently following shielding guidelines, broken down by prison.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)

NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for commissioning healthcare services in English prisons. Local Health Boards are responsible for prison healthcare services in Wales. Local prison healthcare services hold information on the number of prisoners considered clinically extremely vulnerable to Covid-19; we do not hold this information centrally.

The number of prisoners currently following shielding guidelines broken down by prison can be found below (data as of Friday, 29 May):

Prison

Number of prisoners currently shielding

Prison

Number of prisoners currently shielding

Askham Grange

9

Lancaster Farms

~

Bedford

9

Leeds

84

Berwyn

50

Leicester

9

Birmingham

~

Leyhill

17

Brinsford

5

Lindholme

15

Brixton

53

Liverpool

78

Buckley Hall

~

Long Lartin

~

Bullingdon

11

Low Newton

~

Channings Wood

11

Lowdham Grange

5

Chelmsford

11

Manchester

35

Dartmoor

27

Moorland

135

Deerbolt

~

New Hall

27

Doncaster

30

North Sea Camp

15

Dovegate

32

Norwich

40

Downview

~

Nottingham

22

Durham

18

Oakwood

9

Eastwood Park

17

Onley

8

Elmley

20

Parc

46

Exeter

9

Peterborough Female

12

Featherstone

12

Peterborough Male

13

Feltham

16

Portland

~

Ford

21

Ranby

30

Foston Hall

16

Rochester

13

Frankland

8

Rye Hill

41

Full Sutton

~

Stafford

64

Garth

4

Stocken

13

Gartree

5

Styal

19

Guys Marsh

~

Sudbury

7

Hatfield

10

Swansea

16

Hewell

62

Swinfen Hall

~

Hindley

5

Thorn Cross

4

Hollesley Bay

8

Usk

13

Holme House

32

Wakefield

22

Hull

28

Wealstun

117

Humber

18

Wetherby

~

Isle of Wight

27

Winchester

16

Kirkham

8

Woodhill

8

Kirklevington Grange

5

Wymott

317

Total

1,892

Notes:

  • The symbol ~ denotes suppressed values of 3 or fewer (and totals that would allow values of 3 or fewer to be calculated) to avoid the risk of identifying individuals.

Prisons not included in this list did not report having any prisoners shielding at the current time.


Written Question
Prisoners: Homelessness
Monday 1st July 2019

Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women were recorded as being of no fixed abode on arrival in custody in each custodial institution that holds women in each year since 2010.

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

The number of women who were recorded as being of no fixed abode on arrival in custody for each year which data is available is shown below. Data prior to 2015 is not available.

ESTABLISHMENT

2015

2016

2017

2018

Bronzefield (HMP)

338

736

1006

1021

Drake Hall (HMP)

3

0

0

0

Eastwood Park (HMP)

323

454

531

514

Foston Hall (HMP)

139

161

197

297

Holloway (HMP)

336

60

0

0

Low Newton (HMP)

103

100

103

173

New Hall (HMP)

176

205

231

259

Peterborough Female (HMP)

205

337

492

557

Styal (HMP)

286

317

330

441

Everyone should have a safe and suitable home to live; having somewhere to live gives people a stable platform from which to access health services, hold down a job and reduces the likelihood of them reoffending. In keeping with this the Government published its Rough Sleeping Strategy in August 2018, launching a £100 million initiative to reduce and ultimately eliminate rough sleeping across England.

Our reforms to probation are designed to encourage long-term rehabilitation and ultimately reduce reoffending – and the first step in this is ensuring that everyone leaving prison has access to secure and stable accommodation. We are improving support for offenders leaving prison with a £22 million investment in through-the-gate services which will help to strengthen ties with key partners, including the third sector, local authorities and the police.

In addition, the Female Offender Strategy sets out our vision and plan to improve outcomes for women in the community and custody. We want to see fewer women coming into the criminal justice system, a greater proportion managed successfully in the community, and better conditions for those in custody.

Notes

  1. These figures show the number of Basic Custody Screening Tool (BCS) Part 1 that were fully completed in each year 2015 – 2018 which indicated that the prisoner had entered custody from no fixed abode to prisons which hold women prisoners.

  1. The Basic Custody Screening Tool (BCS) Part 1 is completed within 72 hours of a prisoner entering custody and the answers to the accommodation questions are entered as provided by the prisoner to the BCS screener. The BCS answers are not assessed.

  1. Female establishments not shown in the above list did not complete BCS Part 1s in this time period.

  1. HMP Holloway closed in 2016.

  1. It is possible for prisons to manually create a BCS Part 1 where one hasn’t been previously fully completed and this may explain why HMP Drake Hall completed 3 in 2015.

  1. The BCS Part 1 went live on 01/01/2015 which is why we cannot produce this data for 2010 – 2014 inclusive.

  1. Data count includes with each of repeat admissions by an individual during the course of a year.

Written Question
Prisoners: Mothers
Tuesday 20th November 2018

Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women with a North Wales postal address that were held at HMP Styalwere had dependent children in 2017/18 .

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

111 women who were held at HMP Styal during the 2017-18 financial year had a reported North Wales address and are recorded as having children. The data from Prison-NOMIS, the system from which this information was obtained, only records if the prisoner has children (as of today) and does not state how old the children are or if they are dependents.

Our female offender strategy set out a dedicated approach to supporting female offenders and I am determined to build on this by shifting focus away from prisons to women’s centres with a range of support services, including for substance misuse and mental health problems.

We are investing an additional £5 million over two years on community provision so that, where appropriate, women are given the support they need to address their offending and turn away from a life of crime. Work is also ongoing to improve the quality pre-sentence reports to ensure that sentencers are made aware and can take account of whether an offender is a primary carer.

Note:

  • North Wales has been defined as having a reported address within the local authorities of: Anglesey; Conwy; Denbighshire; Flintshire; Gwynedd; and Wrexham.
  • Around 97% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.
  • This information is included in the data provided in the answer above.
  • Those with no recorded origin are typically foreign nationals or those recently received into custody.
  • No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 3% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the figure above.

Written Question
Prisoners' Release: Temporary Accommodation
Monday 16th October 2017

Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders taking part in programmes on drug recovery wings in prisons spent one night or more in temporary accommodation immediately after release.

Answered by Phillip Lee

The Drug Recovery Wings (DRWs) pilots were launched in 2011/2012 in eight men’s and two women’s prisons in England and Wales running until 2015. The DRWs focussed primarily on drug and alcohol misusing offenders sentenced to between 3-12 months in custody, but the scope was extended in 2012 to include those on remand and those serving longer sentences who were in their last year of sentence.

An independent Evaluation of the Drug Recovery Wing Pilots was published on 5th October 2017 and provides information on the capacity of the wings within each prison. The Evaluation found that comparing the six months prior to incarceration and the six months following release, there was a reduction in self-reported substance use and crime. However, in the absence of a comparison group, this reduction cannot be attributed to the DRWs.

In the impact evaluation, 319 prisoners were interviewed at the beginning of their DRW engagement, 203 prior to their departure from the wing and 109 once they had been living back in the community for six months. The most common experience described by interviewees was being released into a hostel, or funded B&B. Of those interviewed post-release, it was self-reported that 12% reporting shoplifting, 9% theft other than from a vehicle and 9% handling stolen goods in the six months following release. [It’s important to note that there might selection bias meaning these reoffending rates might be an underestimate.]

Governors and local health commissioners decide if they wish to commission drug recovery wings when considering how best to meet the needs of their population. HMP Brixton and HMP Styal continue to run DRWs since the pilot ended and a number of establishments in partnership with Drug Treatment Providers established their own local recovery wings or therapeutic community models outside of the original pilot areas. Building on the DRWs, we are currently piloting new approaches to tackle the demand for and supply of drugs amongst prisoners, which includes developing a range of evidence based substance misuse treatment and provisions to support recovery in prison and through the gate.

Although no specific funding was provided to assist offenders who have participated in programmes on drug recovery wings, a new resettlement service was introduced in 2015 through which prisoners are given continuous support when they leave prison into the community. Almost all prisoners, including those on remand, now receive through-the-gate help and supervision to meet identified needs, including with substance misuse problems. These services are delivered by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), which work with prisons and locally commissioned substance misuse services to provide access for offenders.


Written Question
Reoffenders: Drugs
Monday 16th October 2017

Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders who took part in programmes on drug recovery wings in prisons have reoffended in each year since those wings were introduced.

Answered by Phillip Lee

The Drug Recovery Wings (DRWs) pilots were launched in 2011/2012 in eight men’s and two women’s prisons in England and Wales running until 2015. The DRWs focussed primarily on drug and alcohol misusing offenders sentenced to between 3-12 months in custody, but the scope was extended in 2012 to include those on remand and those serving longer sentences who were in their last year of sentence.

An independent Evaluation of the Drug Recovery Wing Pilots was published on 5th October 2017 and provides information on the capacity of the wings within each prison. The Evaluation found that comparing the six months prior to incarceration and the six months following release, there was a reduction in self-reported substance use and crime. However, in the absence of a comparison group, this reduction cannot be attributed to the DRWs.

In the impact evaluation, 319 prisoners were interviewed at the beginning of their DRW engagement, 203 prior to their departure from the wing and 109 once they had been living back in the community for six months. The most common experience described by interviewees was being released into a hostel, or funded B&B. Of those interviewed post-release, it was self-reported that 12% reporting shoplifting, 9% theft other than from a vehicle and 9% handling stolen goods in the six months following release. [It’s important to note that there might selection bias meaning these reoffending rates might be an underestimate.]

Governors and local health commissioners decide if they wish to commission drug recovery wings when considering how best to meet the needs of their population. HMP Brixton and HMP Styal continue to run DRWs since the pilot ended and a number of establishments in partnership with Drug Treatment Providers established their own local recovery wings or therapeutic community models outside of the original pilot areas. Building on the DRWs, we are currently piloting new approaches to tackle the demand for and supply of drugs amongst prisoners, which includes developing a range of evidence based substance misuse treatment and provisions to support recovery in prison and through the gate.

Although no specific funding was provided to assist offenders who have participated in programmes on drug recovery wings, a new resettlement service was introduced in 2015 through which prisoners are given continuous support when they leave prison into the community. Almost all prisoners, including those on remand, now receive through-the-gate help and supervision to meet identified needs, including with substance misuse problems. These services are delivered by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), which work with prisons and locally commissioned substance misuse services to provide access for offenders.


Written Question
Reoffenders: Drugs
Monday 16th October 2017

Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders who took part in programmes on drug recovery wings in prisons have reoffended for drug-related offences in each year since those wings were introduced.

Answered by Phillip Lee

The Drug Recovery Wings (DRWs) pilots were launched in 2011/2012 in eight men’s and two women’s prisons in England and Wales running until 2015. The DRWs focussed primarily on drug and alcohol misusing offenders sentenced to between 3-12 months in custody, but the scope was extended in 2012 to include those on remand and those serving longer sentences who were in their last year of sentence.

An independent Evaluation of the Drug Recovery Wing Pilots was published on 5th October 2017 and provides information on the capacity of the wings within each prison. The Evaluation found that comparing the six months prior to incarceration and the six months following release, there was a reduction in self-reported substance use and crime. However, in the absence of a comparison group, this reduction cannot be attributed to the DRWs.

In the impact evaluation, 319 prisoners were interviewed at the beginning of their DRW engagement, 203 prior to their departure from the wing and 109 once they had been living back in the community for six months. The most common experience described by interviewees was being released into a hostel, or funded B&B. Of those interviewed post-release, it was self-reported that 12% reporting shoplifting, 9% theft other than from a vehicle and 9% handling stolen goods in the six months following release. [It’s important to note that there might selection bias meaning these reoffending rates might be an underestimate.]

Governors and local health commissioners decide if they wish to commission drug recovery wings when considering how best to meet the needs of their population. HMP Brixton and HMP Styal continue to run DRWs since the pilot ended and a number of establishments in partnership with Drug Treatment Providers established their own local recovery wings or therapeutic community models outside of the original pilot areas. Building on the DRWs, we are currently piloting new approaches to tackle the demand for and supply of drugs amongst prisoners, which includes developing a range of evidence based substance misuse treatment and provisions to support recovery in prison and through the gate.

Although no specific funding was provided to assist offenders who have participated in programmes on drug recovery wings, a new resettlement service was introduced in 2015 through which prisoners are given continuous support when they leave prison into the community. Almost all prisoners, including those on remand, now receive through-the-gate help and supervision to meet identified needs, including with substance misuse problems. These services are delivered by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), which work with prisons and locally commissioned substance misuse services to provide access for offenders.


Written Question
Reoffenders: Burglary
Monday 16th October 2017

Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders who took part in programmes on drug recovery wings in prisons have reoffended for burglary in each year since those wings were introduced.

Answered by Phillip Lee

The Drug Recovery Wings (DRWs) pilots were launched in 2011/2012 in eight men’s and two women’s prisons in England and Wales running until 2015. The DRWs focussed primarily on drug and alcohol misusing offenders sentenced to between 3-12 months in custody, but the scope was extended in 2012 to include those on remand and those serving longer sentences who were in their last year of sentence.

An independent Evaluation of the Drug Recovery Wing Pilots was published on 5th October 2017 and provides information on the capacity of the wings within each prison. The Evaluation found that comparing the six months prior to incarceration and the six months following release, there was a reduction in self-reported substance use and crime. However, in the absence of a comparison group, this reduction cannot be attributed to the DRWs.

In the impact evaluation, 319 prisoners were interviewed at the beginning of their DRW engagement, 203 prior to their departure from the wing and 109 once they had been living back in the community for six months. The most common experience described by interviewees was being released into a hostel, or funded B&B. Of those interviewed post-release, it was self-reported that 12% reporting shoplifting, 9% theft other than from a vehicle and 9% handling stolen goods in the six months following release. [It’s important to note that there might selection bias meaning these reoffending rates might be an underestimate.]

Governors and local health commissioners decide if they wish to commission drug recovery wings when considering how best to meet the needs of their population. HMP Brixton and HMP Styal continue to run DRWs since the pilot ended and a number of establishments in partnership with Drug Treatment Providers established their own local recovery wings or therapeutic community models outside of the original pilot areas. Building on the DRWs, we are currently piloting new approaches to tackle the demand for and supply of drugs amongst prisoners, which includes developing a range of evidence based substance misuse treatment and provisions to support recovery in prison and through the gate.

Although no specific funding was provided to assist offenders who have participated in programmes on drug recovery wings, a new resettlement service was introduced in 2015 through which prisoners are given continuous support when they leave prison into the community. Almost all prisoners, including those on remand, now receive through-the-gate help and supervision to meet identified needs, including with substance misuse problems. These services are delivered by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), which work with prisons and locally commissioned substance misuse services to provide access for offenders.


Written Question
Prisoners: Rehabilitation
Monday 16th October 2017

Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what non-financial support is provided to offenders taking part in programmes on drug recovery wings in prisons upon release.

Answered by Phillip Lee

The Drug Recovery Wings (DRWs) pilots were launched in 2011/2012 in eight men’s and two women’s prisons in England and Wales running until 2015. The DRWs focussed primarily on drug and alcohol misusing offenders sentenced to between 3-12 months in custody, but the scope was extended in 2012 to include those on remand and those serving longer sentences who were in their last year of sentence.

An independent Evaluation of the Drug Recovery Wing Pilots was published on 5th October 2017 and provides information on the capacity of the wings within each prison. The Evaluation found that comparing the six months prior to incarceration and the six months following release, there was a reduction in self-reported substance use and crime. However, in the absence of a comparison group, this reduction cannot be attributed to the DRWs.

In the impact evaluation, 319 prisoners were interviewed at the beginning of their DRW engagement, 203 prior to their departure from the wing and 109 once they had been living back in the community for six months. The most common experience described by interviewees was being released into a hostel, or funded B&B. Of those interviewed post-release, it was self-reported that 12% reporting shoplifting, 9% theft other than from a vehicle and 9% handling stolen goods in the six months following release. [It’s important to note that there might selection bias meaning these reoffending rates might be an underestimate.]

Governors and local health commissioners decide if they wish to commission drug recovery wings when considering how best to meet the needs of their population. HMP Brixton and HMP Styal continue to run DRWs since the pilot ended and a number of establishments in partnership with Drug Treatment Providers established their own local recovery wings or therapeutic community models outside of the original pilot areas. Building on the DRWs, we are currently piloting new approaches to tackle the demand for and supply of drugs amongst prisoners, which includes developing a range of evidence based substance misuse treatment and provisions to support recovery in prison and through the gate.

Although no specific funding was provided to assist offenders who have participated in programmes on drug recovery wings, a new resettlement service was introduced in 2015 through which prisoners are given continuous support when they leave prison into the community. Almost all prisoners, including those on remand, now receive through-the-gate help and supervision to meet identified needs, including with substance misuse problems. These services are delivered by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), which work with prisons and locally commissioned substance misuse services to provide access for offenders.


Written Question
Prisoners: Rehabilitation
Monday 16th October 2017

Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders who took part in programmes on drug recovery wings in prisons were serving sentences of (a) less than six months, (b) six to 12 months, (c) 12 months to two years and (d) more than two years.

Answered by Phillip Lee

The Drug Recovery Wings (DRWs) pilots were launched in 2011/2012 in eight men’s and two women’s prisons in England and Wales running until 2015. The DRWs focussed primarily on drug and alcohol misusing offenders sentenced to between 3-12 months in custody, but the scope was extended in 2012 to include those on remand and those serving longer sentences who were in their last year of sentence.

An independent Evaluation of the Drug Recovery Wing Pilots was published on 5th October 2017 and provides information on the capacity of the wings within each prison. The Evaluation found that comparing the six months prior to incarceration and the six months following release, there was a reduction in self-reported substance use and crime. However, in the absence of a comparison group, this reduction cannot be attributed to the DRWs.

In the impact evaluation, 319 prisoners were interviewed at the beginning of their DRW engagement, 203 prior to their departure from the wing and 109 once they had been living back in the community for six months. The most common experience described by interviewees was being released into a hostel, or funded B&B. Of those interviewed post-release, it was self-reported that 12% reporting shoplifting, 9% theft other than from a vehicle and 9% handling stolen goods in the six months following release. [It’s important to note that there might selection bias meaning these reoffending rates might be an underestimate.]

Governors and local health commissioners decide if they wish to commission drug recovery wings when considering how best to meet the needs of their population. HMP Brixton and HMP Styal continue to run DRWs since the pilot ended and a number of establishments in partnership with Drug Treatment Providers established their own local recovery wings or therapeutic community models outside of the original pilot areas. Building on the DRWs, we are currently piloting new approaches to tackle the demand for and supply of drugs amongst prisoners, which includes developing a range of evidence based substance misuse treatment and provisions to support recovery in prison and through the gate.

Although no specific funding was provided to assist offenders who have participated in programmes on drug recovery wings, a new resettlement service was introduced in 2015 through which prisoners are given continuous support when they leave prison into the community. Almost all prisoners, including those on remand, now receive through-the-gate help and supervision to meet identified needs, including with substance misuse problems. These services are delivered by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), which work with prisons and locally commissioned substance misuse services to provide access for offenders.