The process of change in the NOMS organisations in the nine English regions and Wales in 2009, covered 576 jobs and the new structure, which is now in place, has reduced this number by 180 to 396.
The information for the national headquarters does not include staff reporting through the NOMS Shared Service Centre or area service teams who are based in prisons but organised on a regional basis.
Regional and National headquarters 31 December 2004 to 2009
Region
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Area/Regional Office
East Midlands
37
54
61
56
62
53
East of England
34
44
47
44
56
50
London
25
28
30
28
37
32
North East
20
28
38
38
41
40
North West
126
182
210
205
80
81
South East
125
143
127
116
121
98
30 Mar 2010 : Column 1085W
30 Mar 2010 : Column 1086W
South west
r32
36
34
26
25
31
Wales
13
16
19
18
27
26
West Midlands
49
48
54
42
34
38
Yorkshire and Humberside
39
48
55
29
35
35
Area/Regional Office Total
501
627
675
602
518
483
National Headquarters(1)
1906
1351
1398
1297
2207
2188
(1) In 2005 a large number of staff transferred to the original NOMS headquarters, which was part of the core Home Office. The staff transferred back in 2008 when NOMS HQ was formed. These staff are not included in the table for the period when they were part of the core Home Office.
Polling Stations
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons the provisions of the Electoral Administration Act 2005 on signing at polling stations have not been commenced. [324483]
Mr. Wills:
The Government have not yet concluded how this measure could most effectively be implemented. We must ensure, however, that any approach to this issue is aligned with other reforms to the registration and electoral processes.
Prison Service: Pensions
David Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether long-term state pension costs of retired staff are taken into account when calculating the cost of a prison place in England and Wales. [324868]
Maria Eagle:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Mr. Gerrard) on 9 March 2010, Official R eport, column 248W.
Prison Service: Uniforms
Paul Holmes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what protective equipment and clothing is issued to prison staff. [324088]
Maria Eagle:
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to carry out an assessment of the significant risks to which staff are exposed and to implement control measures effectively to manage the risks. Control measures may include provision of personal protective equipment. The range and type of equipment provided will depend on the risk.
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) carries out risk assessments for the different duties staff conduct. In the case of staff working in Prisons, a variety of personal protection equipment and clothing is provided, dependant on the situation and duties staff are conducting. Types of safety equipment made available to staff would include safety footwear, gloves, overalls, high visibility jackets, hard hats and protection in the event of cold weather and for the head, eyes, hearing and respiratory system.
Control and restraint equipment and clothing such as helmets, shields, fire resistant overalls and leg protectors are also available to specially trained prison officers. Batons are carried by staff trained in their use in those prisons in which their deployment has been approved. Vests which offer ballistic protection, including protection against knives, are provided to a range of prison staff in circumstances where particular risks exist including some local and national control and restraint operations and some operations involving specialist interventions.
Prisoners
David Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any prisoners have been charged with the offence of corrupting a public official during the last 12 months. [324862]
Claire Ward:
I refer the hon. Member to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) on 4 March 2010, Official Report, column 1346W.
Prisons
John McDonnell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what recent estimate he has made of the level of serious organised crime involving drug trafficking in prisons in England and Wales; [323926]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of serious organised crime activities being carried out in prisons in England and Wales. [323980]
Maria Eagle:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 5 March 2010, Official Report, column 1470W.
Covert criminal activity is, of its nature, very difficult to quantify. Prisons have a well established security information reporting framework. Where concerns are identified about a prisoner's potential criminal activity, prisons can draw on a range of measures to identify and disrupt that activity.
The National Offender Management Service is also fully engaged in action to address serious and organised crime strategically, including the work identified in the Government report "Extending Our Reach: A Comprehensive Approach to Tackling Serious Organised Crime" to develop a strategy to manage serious organised criminals whilst in prison.
Prisons: Mobile Phones
John McDonnell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of illicit mobile telephones in prisons in England and Wales in each of the last 12 months; how many of 30 Mar 2010 : Column 1087W
those telephones were found in the possession of (a) staff and (b) prisoners; and how many were found in communal areas in each such month. [323925]
Maria Eagle:
The Government are committed to reducing the number of mobile phones in prisons. We have already strengthened the law through the Offender Management Act 2007, which made it an offence with a penalty of up to two years' imprisonment to bring a mobile phone or component into a prison. We are also taking forward legislation through the Crime and Security Bill to criminalise. the possession of devices, including mobile telephones within a prison without authorisation.
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not hold centrally disaggregated information on the location or ownership of phones seized. Many phones and component parts are not attributable to individuals. Prisons in England and Wales are instructed to send mobile phones and SIM cards found to a central unit for analysis, it is from this unit's records that this answer is based The figures contained in the 30 Mar 2010 : Column 1088W
tables have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing data, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. These data are not subject to audit.
The figures understate the actual number of finds, because they do not include items retained by the police for evidential purposes and phones not submitted for other reasons. It is not always appropriate to send phones to the central unit and some phones sent are not interrogated. These have not been included in these figures. NOMS is putting in place new procedures to improve the accuracy of these statistics.
Tackling mobile phones in prison presents substantial and increasing technological challenges, and while the numbers of phones found clearly indicates the scale of the challenge, it is also a reflection of prisons' increasing success in finding them and better reporting. The following table shows the number of mobile phones and SIM cards that have been received from each of the prisons over the last 12 months.
Mobile phone and SIM cards submitted to central unit (March 2009-February 2010)
