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Corruption is taken very seriously and there is no place for it within the Prison Service. Anyone who fails to meet these standards will be dealt with swiftly and robustly.
Of the 11 employees dismissed for conducting an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner 6 were male and 5 were female.
From 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013 there were a total of 6 NOMS employees disciplined for having an 'Inappropriate Relationship with a prisoner/ex prisoner'. Of these, were 3 were male and 3 were female.
Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers left Prison Service employment within (a) six months, (b) one year and (c) two years of becoming an officer in each of the last five years. [198003]
Jeremy Wright: Information on the number of prison officers who left employment within the first two years of joining public sector prisons in England and Wales in 2009 to 2013 is contained in the following table.
Headcount of officers leaving public sector prison service in England and Wales within (a) 6 months, (b) 1 year, (c) 2 years 2009-13 | |||
Officers leaving within 6 months | Officers leaving within 1 year1 | Officers leaving within 2 year1 | |
1 Figures are cumulative i.e. the number leaving within one year includes those leaving within 6 months. |
Officer numbers, which are derived from a dynamic administrative system, have been rounded to the nearest 10 to reflect the level of uncertainty in the figures.
It is not possible to provide figures for privately contracted prisons with the time available. This is because information on leavers is held not held centrally and is only available from the individual contractors. This information has been requested and I will write to you again when it is available.
Prisoners
Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many hours per week was spent in (a) education or training, (b) work and (c) cells by prisoners in (i) each prison in England and Wales and (ii) each category of prison in each of the last three years. [178604]
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Jeremy Wright: The information requested in parts (a) and (b) of the question is set out in Tables 1 and 2 for 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, which are the last three years for which this information was collected.
The information requested in part (c) was provided in my earlier answer on 6 June 2013, Official Report, column 1292, to the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan):
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130606/text/130606w0003.htm#13060674001141
Figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Purposeful activity was formerly a performance indicator for prisons, but was discontinued at the start of 2012-13. The indicator was not used in the day-to-day management of prisons and NOMS had concerns over the burden on the frontline of collecting the information. Indicators introduced into prison SLAs in respect of rehabilitation, resettlement and work in prisons provide a better demonstration of the efforts to equip prisoners to be less likely to offend on release.
Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully while they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.
The number of prisoners working in industrial activity in public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. The average hours per week spent in education has increased since 2010.
In addition there are substantial numbers of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.
Our reforms to the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.
Figures are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf
Table 1: Average hours per prisoner per week in education and work by prison category | ||||||
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | ||||
Average hours of: | ||||||
Prison category | Education per prisoner per week | Work per prisoner per week | Education per prisoner per week | Work per prisoner per week | Education per prisoner per week | Work per prisoner per week |
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Note: In the above table prisons are categorised according to their predominant function, though some establishments will have more than one function. |
Table 2: Average hours per prisoner per week in education and work by prison establishment | ||||||
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | ||||
Average hours of: | ||||||
Establishment | Education per prisoner per week | Work per prisoner per week | Education per prisoner per week | Work per prisoner per week | Education per prisoner per week | Work per prisoner per week |
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Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the relationship between trends in (a) the prison population and (b) crime levels in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [183318]
Jeremy Wright: In the last 10 years crime has come down and fewer people are committing crimes for the first time. However there is now a hard core of persistent offenders that keep coming back to serve time in our prisons over and over again.
Prison is an essential part of our criminal justice system—it punishes offences, protects the public from dangerous offenders, sends a strong message about what society is willing to accept, and provides an opportunity for rehabilitation.
We are currently reorganising the prison estate to put in place an unprecedented nationwide through the prison gate resettlement service meaning that for the first time nearly all offenders will be given continuous support from custody into the community. This package of reforms will provide more effective rehabilitation at better value to the taxpayer and in a way that is sustainable for the future.
Prisoners: China
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what information his Department holds on whether Lin Liang Ren, who served part of his sentence in the UK after being convicted for his part in the Morecambe Bay cockle pickers disaster, is currently incarcerated in China; [185326]
(2) how many years Lin Mu Yong served in prison in the UK for his part in the Morecambe Bay cockle pickers disaster; and when he was deported to China; [185327]
(3) what year Lin Liang Ren was deported to China following his conviction relating to the Morecambe Bay cockle pickers disaster; and how many years of his sentence he had served in the UK before that deportation; [185329]
(4) how many years Zhao Xiao Qing served in prison in the UK for his part in the Morecambe Bay cockle pickers disaster; and when he was deported to China. [185330]
Jeremy Wright: Lin Liang Ren served approximately eight years and two months and was subsequently deported from the United Kingdom upon his release in 2012. We have no knowledge of whether he has been arrested and imprisoned in connection with other offences since his deportation to China.
Lin Mo Yong served approximately three years and five months and was deported from the United Kingdom in 2008.
Zhao Xiao Qing served approximately one year and was subsequently deported from the United Kingdom upon her release in 2007.
Each of these prisoners served the minimum period or more required by law before they could be released and deported from the United Kingdom.
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Prisoners: Per Capita Costs
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average monthly cost of maintaining someone in prison is. [182793]
Jeremy Wright: The Department routinely publishes full details of average costs per prisoner and place, based on actual net resource expenditure for each private and public sector prison and in summary form for the whole of the prison estate in England and Wales on an annual basis after the end of each financial year. The most recently published figures are for financial year 2012-13 (1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013). The overall average annual cost per prisoner is £34,766 for financial year 2012-13. This equates to an average monthly cost of £2,897 per prisoner.
The information for financial year 2012-13 is published as an Addendum to the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts and available on the Department’s website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-201213
Continuing to reduce prison unit costs is one of the key targets for the Department.
Between 2009-10 and 2012-13 prison unit costs (direct prison costs only) have reduced in real terms by 10% per place and 8% per prisoner.
Furthermore, the Government are committed to delivering reform in our public services. The Prison Competition Phase One Programme will deliver efficiency savings, in line with other public sector prisons, over the next four years.
Prisons: Crimes of Violence
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) charges and (b) successful convictions have been brought following assaults against prison staff by prisoners in each year since 2010. [194693]
Jeremy Wright: NOMS takes the issue of assaults on prison staff very seriously. It currently has systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution. It is working with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that prisoners who assault staff are charged and punished appropriately.
NOMS is committed to exploring options to continue to improve how violence is tackled in prisons to keep both staff and prisoners safe. It is currently reviewing the policy and practice of the management of violence.
The number of prisoner on prison officers assault incidents in each year are provided in table 3.8 of the supplementary tables on assaults that accompany each Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. The latest publication can be found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody
Figures for the number of these incidents that are reported on the centralised administrative system as being referred to the police in each year are provided in table 1. These figures do not represent individuals as there may be multiple assailants in some incidents. How many of these resulted in charges or conviction can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Table 1: Number of prisoner on officer assault incidents referred to the police | |||
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
Prisons: Mobile Phones
Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cellular devices have been confiscated from prisons in each of the last five years by establishment. [197143]
Jeremy Wright: Since April 2010, prisons have been asked to send all unauthorised phones and SIM cards found to a central unit for interrogation, or to notify the unit if an unauthorised phone or SIM card has been found but not sent for analysis. Data prior to April 2010 is not held centrally and data for 2013 and 2014 is being verified and is not yet available.
The following table shows the number of seizures of mobile phones and/or SIM cards reported by each prison between April 2010 and December 2012. One seizure may constitute a handset containing one SIM card or media card, a handset only, or a SIM card only.
Number | |||
Establishment | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
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Note: All figures provided have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. | |||
Note: All figures provided have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. |