Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison (a) officers and (b) staff have been investigated for (i) drug smuggling and (ii) corruption at HMP Parc in each of the last four years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison staff (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of the prison workforce had received training to deal with extremist prisoners as of 26 April in each year since 2017.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The method for recording counter terrorism training data has changed over time, so the information requested cannot be provided. Since December 2021, over 17,000 directly employed HMPPS prison staff have been trained in counter terrorism (through the Awareness for Staff on Prevent Extremism and Counter Terrorism Strategy (ASPECTS) programme).
ASPECTS is delivered by counter-terrorist specialists and since 2017, all newly recruited Prison Officers have received ASPECTS training as part of their initial foundation training.
Data as a proportion of the workforce also cannot be provided as records include staff who have since left the prison service and may also include staff who have attended training more than once. The figure also does not include training figures for non-directly employed staff (i.e. those working in private prisons).
The below table shows the number of individuals convicted under Terrorism legislation (TACT), or of other offences considered to have a terrorism connection (TACT-connected), who were being managed by the Probation Service in each year since 2020.
Year | No. under probation supervision. |
2020 | 132 |
2021 | 239 |
2022 | 217 |
2023 | 254 |
2024 | 234 |
Data can only be provided since 2020 as that is when the information began to be recorded centrally.
All high-risk offenders released on licence are managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, through which police, probation, the prison service and other agencies work together to keep the public safe. Upon release, terrorist offenders are subject to robust risk management, and stringent controls which severely limit their activity. This can include extended periods of electronic monitoring, accommodation in Approved Premises, and polygraph testing.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who had been convicted of offences under the Terrorism Act 2006 and related offences were being monitored by the Probation Service in each year since 2015.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The method for recording counter terrorism training data has changed over time, so the information requested cannot be provided. Since December 2021, over 17,000 directly employed HMPPS prison staff have been trained in counter terrorism (through the Awareness for Staff on Prevent Extremism and Counter Terrorism Strategy (ASPECTS) programme).
ASPECTS is delivered by counter-terrorist specialists and since 2017, all newly recruited Prison Officers have received ASPECTS training as part of their initial foundation training.
Data as a proportion of the workforce also cannot be provided as records include staff who have since left the prison service and may also include staff who have attended training more than once. The figure also does not include training figures for non-directly employed staff (i.e. those working in private prisons).
The below table shows the number of individuals convicted under Terrorism legislation (TACT), or of other offences considered to have a terrorism connection (TACT-connected), who were being managed by the Probation Service in each year since 2020.
Year | No. under probation supervision. |
2020 | 132 |
2021 | 239 |
2022 | 217 |
2023 | 254 |
2024 | 234 |
Data can only be provided since 2020 as that is when the information began to be recorded centrally.
All high-risk offenders released on licence are managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, through which police, probation, the prison service and other agencies work together to keep the public safe. Upon release, terrorist offenders are subject to robust risk management, and stringent controls which severely limit their activity. This can include extended periods of electronic monitoring, accommodation in Approved Premises, and polygraph testing.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many former prison guards were found guilty of criminal offences in each year since 2015.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Information on how many former prison guards were found guilty of criminal offences in each year since 2015 is not centrally held.
This is because the information cannot be obtained from the administrative systems held for the public authority purposes by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service and the Ministry of Justice. If held, this information can only be obtained by accessing the case records themselves; these case records are held in the custody of the court for the purposes of the court, only.
The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners.
HM Prison & Probation Service has a zero-tolerance policy to drugs conveyed into prisons and take appropriate action to a small number of prison staff who break the rules. Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs and mobile phones, is ongoing. This includes increased resource to pursue corruption, as well as established a new ‘Prevent’ function, aimed at building staff resilience against corruption.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers were deployed on detached duty to (a) HMP Long Lartin and (b) HMP Whitemoor in each of the last four years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Staff are deployed on national detached duty (NDD) as a tactical response to support prisons which require it, to cover staffing shortfalls or to meet other operational requirements. NDD is a vital contingency measure to assist H M Prison & Probation Service to maintain good order and security in prisons
The table below shows the average monthly deployment of full-time equivalent NDD staff to the two prisons between October 2022 and April 2024. HMP Whitemoor is no longer receiving NDD support. Except as shown in the table, no NDD staff were deployed to either site during the past four years.
Date | HMP Whitemoor | HMP Long Lartin |
Oct 2022 | 0 | 13.2 |
Nov 2022 | 0 | 36.25 |
Dec 2022 | 0 | 40.2 |
Jan 2023 | 0 | 40 |
Feb 2023 | 0 | 41 |
Mar 2023 | 0 | 37.4 |
Apr 2023 | 0 | 44.5 |
May 2023 | 0 | 61.6 |
Jun 2023 | 0 | 60.5 |
Jul 2023 | 4.5 | 55.75 |
Aug 2023 | 23.4 | 61.2 |
Sep 2023 | 31.25 | 65.5 |
Oct 2023 | 30 | 64 |
Nov 2023 | 31 | 65.4 |
Dec 2023 | 28.5 | 57 |
Jan 2024 | 27.5 | 46.75 |
Feb 2024 | 23.2 | 32.6 |
Mar 2024 | 13.25 | 27.5 |
Apr 2024 | 7.5 | 27 |
Asked by: Stephen Crabb (Conservative - Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison (a) officers and (b) other staff have been (i) investigated and (ii) dismissed in relation to (a) the conveyance of drugs and (b) conducting inappropriate relationships with prisoners in Wales in each year since 2019.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In each year since 2019, there have been 2 staff in Welsh prisons who were investigated or recommended for dismissal for trafficking through internal disciplinary procedures.
Data relating to staff investigated or recommended for dismissal for having an inappropriate relationship with prisoners/ex-prisoners is held and is provided in table 1 below. The annual HMPPS staff equalities report covers staffing information, including investigations and conduct & disciplinary action, and the latest publication covers data up to 31 March 2023. This data does not include criminal investigations of prison officers or staff by law enforcement.
Table 1: HMPPS staff in Public Sector Prisons1 in Wales who were (i) investigated2 and (ii) recommended for dismissal3,4 for having an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner/ex-prisoner5, in each financial year from 2018/19 to 2022/236(p)
Financial year | Band 3-5 prison officers7 | All other prison staff | ||
Headcount of staff investigated | Headcount of staff recommended for dismissal | Headcount of staff investigated | Headcount of staff recommended for dismissal | |
2018/19 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
2019/20 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
2020/21 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
2021/22 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
2022/23 | 6 | ~ | ~ | ~ |
Notes
1. Excludes any privately managed prisons.
2. Figures relate to formal investigations with an outcome recorded in the year. Staff subject to at least one investigation that was concluded during the year.
3. Conduct and discipline cases are defined as where a penalty has been imposed on a member of HMPPS staff for a reason of conduct. Staff with at least one conduct and discipline case concluded during the year.
4. A dismissal case is defined as where at least one of the charges relating to an individual is recommended for dismissal. Information on the outcomes of any appeal is not included.
5. Allegations which meet a criminal threshold will be referred to the Police for investigation. If a criminal justice outcome is secured, this will result in a summary dismissal as per PSI 10/2016 Conduct and Discipline and will not be recorded against a specific ‘type’ of misconduct in the Conduct and Discipline data. 6. Financial year runs from 01 April to 31 March. Latest published data on Investigations is up to 31 March 2023. 7. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.
~ denotes suppressed values of 2 or fewer or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction. Low numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2018.
(p) Provisional data. There may be minor changes to figures in future due to additional data being recorded on the reporting system.
Asked by: Stephen Crabb (Conservative - Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of prison officers who are searched upon entry to prison by an x-ray body scanner.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HM Prison and Probation Service does not currently have legal permission to use X-ray body scanners on staff working in prisons. As such, no prison officers are searched by an X-ray body scanner upon entry to prison.
All persons may be searched on entry to or within prisons, including prison staff. Arrangements for staff searching are set out in a prisons Local Security Strategy.
The vast majority of staff are hardworking and dedicated. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners.
Through the Government’s £100 million Security Investment Programme (SIP) we have bolstered prison security, such as physical measures to stop illicit items from entering prisons. These include extending X-ray body scanners to all closed male prisons, and installing Enhanced Gate Security at 42 high risk sites with archway metal detectors and the regular use of sniffer dogs. We have also since installed X-ray baggage scanners at 49 establishments. Additionally, through SIP investment, we have introduced mobile phone blocking and detection capabilities. We have also expanded HMPPS’ Counter Corruption Unit to effectively support the resilience of our hardworking prison officers to coercion by criminals. Furthermore, we have enhanced our partnership working through the development of a Multi-Agency Response to Serious Organised Crime.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department have made a risk assessment of prison officer vacancies in the Long Term High Security Estate.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We closely monitor staffing levels across the estate via a number of internal governance forums, which assess the vacancy levels for individual prisons and across regions and functions, including the Long Term High Security Estate (LTHSE). Vacancies are one of a number of contributory factors that determine HMPPS' assessment of risk and stability within prisons. We will always ensure that prisons are sufficiently staffed to deliver safe and secure regimes. Where establishments feel that their staffing levels will affect stability or regime, including because of vacancies, there are a number of ways they can maximise the use of their own resource and seek support from other establishments in the short term, through processes managed nationally at Agency level. These include overtime payments and support via Detached Duty staff from other prisons.
We are continuing recruitment activity at all sites with a current or future need, including in the LTHSE. Nationally, we have seen a substantial improvement in the national staffing picture within prisons over the past year. The number of Band 3-5 prison officers increased by 1,634 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between December 2022 and December 2023, and resignation rates have fallen over the same period. This is the result of significant efforts across the agency, including substantial increases in pay for staff, our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign, incentivized recruitment schemes where we incentivised applicants to relocate to ‘harder-to-staff’ sites, and the Prison Officer Alumni Network, where we have fast-tracked former staff back into the service.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies there were for band 3 prison officers in the Long Term High Security Estate - South at the start of each year from 2017 to 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Following a period of staffing challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a substantial improvement in the national staffing picture within prisons. The number of Band 3-5 prison officers has increased by 1,634 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between December 2022 - 2023, and resignation rates have fallen over the same period. This is the result of significant efforts across the agency, including substantial increases in pay for staff and launching our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign.
Table One below shows the number of indicative vacancies for Band 3 Prison Officers in the Long Term & High Security Estate (for prisons in the South) for January 2018, January 2019, January 2020, January 2021, January 2022 and January 2023. Data is not held for the period January 2017 and has not been provided.
In reality, many establishments will routinely sit marginally below their Target Staffing level due to normal attrition and time to hire and so we would not expect establishments to run consistently at 100% staffing.
Where prisons are not at their Target Staffing level, these are routinely supplemented (e.g., by using Payment Plus, a form of overtime) which is not accounted for in the indicative vacancy data provided. Use of detached duty, a long-standing mechanism to deploy staff from one prison or region to support another, is also not reflected in the data.
Table One: Total Band 3 Prison Officer Indicative Vacancies across Long Term & High Security Estate (LTHSE) South, January 2018 to January 2023
Month | Indicative vacancies (FTE) |
Jan-18 | 104 |
Jan-19 | 14 |
Jan-20 | 62 |
Jan-21 | 86 |
Jan-22 | 127 |
Jan-23 | 323 |
Notes
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21066 on Prisons: Civil Disorder, how may Tornado trained officers each prison should aim to have trained.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
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:
HMPPS aims to have 2,100 volunteers trained in readiness for Operation Tornado. Since the inception of Operation Tornado in the late 1980s, HMPPS has allocated a commitment to each prison for how many Tornado staff they should have trained. HMPPS monitors the number of staff available for deployment and offer training spaces to ensure resilience to respond to serious incidents.
In the event of a serious incident, all prisons, including those who have a commitment of zero, receive the same level of support from the Operation Response and Resilience Unit and Tornado trained staff from other prisons if required.
The requested information is in the table attached.