Harassment: Northumberland

Mr Ronnie Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in Northumberland received prison sentences for harassment or stalking in the last two years. [197679]

Jeremy Wright: A comprehensive framework of civil remedies and criminal offences is available to deal with stalking and harassment. This framework was strengthened by this Government by amendments to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 made by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which introduced new stalking

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offences. These offences are designed to address specific stalking behaviour as opposed to harassment more generally. The new offence under section 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 covers a course of conduct which causes serious alarm or distress which has a substantial adverse effect on the day-to-day activities of the victim. This recognises the overall emotional and psychological harm that stalking may cause to victims, even where there is no explicit fear of violence. The maximum penalty for the section 2A offence is six months’ imprisonment and for the section 4A offence the maximum penalty is five years’ imprisonment.

The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants sentenced for criminal offences by Police Force Area in England and Wales. The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for offences related to harassment and stalking (relating solely to racially or religiously aggravated stalking with or without fear of violence under section 32 (1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998) in the Northumbria police force area from 2008 to 2012 can be viewed in the table. The Northumbria police force area covers Newcastle, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Sunderland and Northumberland. It has not been possible to separately identify those offenders in the county of Northumberland.

There were new triable-either-way offences for stalking introduced by Sections 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, as inserted by section 111 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which commenced on 25 November 2012. Between this point and the end of December 2012, there were no defendants proceeded against in England and Wales under this.

High Down Prison

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many assaults against prison staff there have been in HM Prison High Down in each month since September 2013; [197072]

(2) how many acts of prisoner on prisoner violence there have been in HM Prison High Down in each month since September 2013. [197073]

Jeremy Wright: The number of assaults on staff and prisoner on prisoner assaults at HMP High Down between September and December 2013 is shown in the following table. The monthly figures between September and December 2013 are broadly in line with the average number of assaults at HMP High Down over the last five years. Assault statistics by establishment are published annually in April with the latest statistics published covering up to 2013.

There are many factors that can drive changes in the number of assaults at individual establishments from one month to the next, including changes in admissions rates and composition of the prison population. Short-term monthly figures do not give a good indication of trends, and a view over a long time period should be taken when considering trends.

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Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when HM Prison High Down has had to (a) close wings, (b) close workshops and (c) restrict family visits due to staff shortages since September 2013. [197108]

Jeremy Wright: The information regarding when HM Prison High Down has had to (a) close wings due to staffing shortages is not recorded. The occasions that workshops have closed since September 2013 (b)are listed as follows. Family visits (c) have not been restricted due to staffing shortages during this period.

There are appropriate levels of staffing at the prison at all times and prisoners who engage in work and education are out of the cells for between eight and 10 hours a day. For those who do not engage, they are still out of their cell for a minimum of four hours a day. In the rare occurrence that a wing should need to close, prisoners still spend at least four hours out of their cells.

(b) HMP Prison High Down has had to close workshops on the following occasions since September 2013:

October 2013

14th and 22nd

November 2013

1st (workshop six only)

20th

December 2013

9th (workshop six only)

16th (am)

January 2014

6th

16th (pm, workshops five and six)

20th (workshops four, five and six)

21st

29th

31st (am)

February 2014

18th (workshop five and six)

March 2014

No closures

April 2013

19th (am)

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when HM Prison High Down has been (a) a recipient of and (b) a contributor to the detached duty programme in each month since September 2013. [197109]

Jeremy Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to written parliamentary questions 194628 and 194740. The previous answer provided information on

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every establishment that had received or contributed staff on detached duty until the latest available date of 31 December 2013.

Legal Profession

Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what public funds were spent on the consultation process and publication of the Government Response to Call for Evidence on the Legal Services Regulatory Framework. [197776]

Mr Vara: The costs incurred by the Ministry of Justice in publishing the Call for Evidence on the Legal Services Regulatory Framework and the Government Response primarily consisted of MOJ staff resources. These costs cannot be quantified as they formed part of the normal day-to-day work of the Department.

The document was made available on-line and so no additional printing costs were incurred. There may be limited additional costs for translation of the Government Response into Welsh but these are yet to be confirmed.

Life Imprisonment

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many offenders have been released from one life sentence before being given another life sentence in each of the last 30 years; and in each such case (a) how long the offender spent in prison for the earlier life sentence, (b) how long the offender had been ordered to serve as a minimum period for the latest life sentence, (c) on what dates each life sentence was given, (d) what the offences were for which the offender received each life sentence and (e) what all the offences committed by that offender prior to the latest life sentence were; [197882]

(2) how many people have been given more than one life sentence on separate sentencing occasions in the last 30 years; and for what offences each person received each such life sentence. [197841]

Jeremy Wright: A life sentence is mandatory for murder and discretionary life sentences are available for other very serious offences. This Government have introduced an automatic life sentence for a second very serious violent or sexual offence.

Under a life sentence, the court determines the minimum period to be served in prison for the purposes of punishment and deterrence. Once that period has been served it is for the Parole Board to determine if and when the offender may be released from prison on life licence and subject to recall for the rest of their life.

Table 1, which will be placed in the Library, shows the number of offenders who have been sentenced to life in the 12 months ending September 2013 who previously had one or more previous life sentence on a separate sentencing occasion within the last 30 years in England and Wales. The table also shows details of their latest and previous offences for which they received a life sentence.

Reoffending rates for life sentenced prisoners are very low. A small number of life sentence prisoners commit offences in prison which result in a second life sentence. Some life sentence prisoners can also receive a

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second life sentence on conviction for offences committed prior to being imprisoned (eg a previous murder or rape).

The figures provided have been drawn from an extract of the Police National Computer (PNC) data held by the Department. The PNC holds details of all convictions and cautions given for recordable offences committed in England and Wales. In addition, as with any large scale recording system, the PNC is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Detailed information on the length of time served by individual life sentence prisoners, and offence information is not readily available, so I will write to my hon. Friend.

Magistrates

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many magistrates sat more than 70 half days in the last year. [198010]

Mr Vara: The latest records for the number of magistrates that sat for more than 70 half days are for 2012-13. 759 magistrates sat for more than 70 half days in that year. It may also assist if I explain that 244 of those magistrates sat on panels, such as youth, family and fine enforcement.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many magistrates were recruited in each of the last three years. [198012]

Mr Vara: Magistrates are recruited locally according to the business needs of the magistrates courts. The number of magistrates recruited in each of the last three financial years is shown as follows:

The downturn in recruitment of new magistrates is a natural consequence of falling workloads in the magistrates courts, due to factors such as falling crime. The fall in overall numbers is a consequence of the downturn in recruitment combined with the relatively steady levels of retirements and resignations.

Members: Correspondence

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to answer question number 191341, submitted by the hon. Member for Hyndburn on 10 March 2014 for Answer on 13 March 2014. [193788]

Jeremy Wright: It has not been possible to obtain the information required to respond to question 191341 from the hon. Gentleman. I will write to him shortly. I apologise for the delay in responding to these questions.

Northumberland Prison

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many full-time equivalent staff of each grade were employed at HM Prison Northumberland on 1 April (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014; [107175]

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(2) what the days staffing levels were against the (a) benchmark and (b) baseline staffing level at the time of the disturbance of HM Prison Northumberland on Saturday 29 March 2014; [197062]

(3) what shortfalls in staffing (a) including and (b) excluding temporary cover against Target B3 staffing levels there were at the time of the disturbance at HM Prison Northumberland on Saturday 29 March 2014; [197063]

(4) how many full-time equivalent prison officers were employed and how many such staff were off sick at HM Prison Northumberland on Saturday 29 March 2014; [197064]

(5) whether HM Prison Northumberland was (a) contributing staff to and (b) receiving staff as part of the detached duty programme on Saturday 29 March 2014; [197065]

(6) what change in full-time equivalent staff of each grade there has been at HM Prison Northumberland since the running of the prison was transferred to Sodexo; [197097]

Jeremy Wright: The information requested could not be obtained within the timescale. I will write to the Member in due course.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice at what time the disturbance at HM Prison Northumberland on 29 March 2014 began; when it ceased; how many prisoners were involved in that disturbance; what injuries were sustained by prisoners and officers; how many prison officers were used to quell the disturbance; and what resources external to the prison were called on to assist in quelling the disturbance. [197066]

Jeremy Wright: A disturbance took place in part of one wing at HM Prison Northumberland on 29 March 2014. It began at approximately 4.45 pm and the affected wing was secured at 00.35 am on 30 March 2014 with no resistance from prisoners. 57 prisoners were involved with one reporting that he had been assaulted during the incident. No staff injuries were reported and minimal damage was caused.

In response to the incident, Gold Command based at National Offender Management Service (NOMS) headquarters, was opened in support of management locally. In line with normal procedure, mutual aid arrangements involved 84 prison officers, together with local staff, were deployed. The National Tactical Response Group and National Dogs and Technical Support Group, as routine in such incidents, were also activated.

Offenders: Foreign Nationals

Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign nationals from (a) the EU and (b) countries outside the EU have been defendants in the (i) magistrates courts and (ii) Crown courts in England and Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [198112]

Mr Vara: The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information

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on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to identify from this centrally held information the nationality of offenders sentenced for criminal offences.

Court proceedings data for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions his Department's working group on the implementation of reforms to reduce the cost of personal injury compensation has met; whether his Department plans to publish the minutes of the working group's meetings; and what progress he has made on his plans to implement reforms to whiplash compensation later in 2014. [196947]

Mr Vara: The Ministry of Justice whiplash implementation core working group has met formally on two occasions, but it and its sub groups also work flexibly and at pace between meetings. With the core group’s agreement, the Department has no plans to publish minutes of these meetings although updates of the work programme are available on the Ministry of Justice website at:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil-justice-reforms/personal-injury-claims

My colleague Lord Faulks wrote to stakeholders on 2 May to seek views on proposed fixed costs for medical reports and related issues (the letter and annexes are available at the link given above). Responses will be considered before amendments to the Road Traffic Accident Protocol and Civil Procedure Rules are finalised and presented to the Civil Procedure Rule Committee at its meeting on 6 June, with a view to their being approved by the Committee at its July meeting for implementation in October. The wider programme of work continues— particularly in relation to the accreditation of medical experts—and further changes will be implemented as soon as practicable.

Police Custody

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which police station cells were used to keep prisoners in overnight in February and March 2014; and on how many occasions. [197630]

Jeremy Wright: The number of prisoners held overnight in a police cell has come down to below 1,200 in 2013-14, after reaching a peak of over 50,000 in 2007-08.

Prison numbers fluctuate throughout the year and we have sufficient accommodation for the current and expected population. We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts. There will be more adult male prison capacity in May 2015 than there was at the start of this Parliament.

Police cells, under Operation Safeguard, have not been used since 22 September 2008 and no police cells under Operation Safeguard have been on standby since the end of October 2008. Court cells have not been used since 28 February 2008 and have been stood down since March 2008.

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As part of standard logistical arrangements, there are occasions where prisoners may be temporarily held overnight in police cells. These largely consist of situations where escort contractors are unable to transport the prisoner to a suitable prison following a court appearance, where it would be impossible to transfer a prisoner to a prison in the time available. This is solely for overnight accommodation by the police before collection and onward transmission to the prison establishment the following working day. This is not the same as using Operation Safeguard.

The following table shows the number of prisoners who were temporarily held overnight in police cells in February and March 2014. The totals include adults, young adults (18 to 20-year-olds) and young people (15 to 17-year-olds). In order to identify individual police station locations, it would require a manual check of each record in February and March and this could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.

Prison Governors

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison governors were in post in England and Wales of each (a) gender, (b) religion or faith, (c) ethnicity and (d) grade on 1 March in each of the last five years. [193203]

Jeremy Wright: The information requested as at 31 March 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 can be found in the following tables. Information on religion has only been available since 31 March 2013. These are the closest publication dates to the dates requested. Information relates to public sector prisons only. The equalities data for privately contracted prisons are not provided. This is because the public sector equality duty that they are subject to does not extend to a requirement for them to provide this equalities information.

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We have maintained our policy of rounding figures to the nearest 10 in line with the Department’s policy for presenting staffing data. The data are only accurate to this level because late updating of data within HR systems means that the unrounded figures recorded for a specific date have a margin of error around them. Totals are formed from unrounded parts prior to rounding. For this reason, rounded totals may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.

Prison Sentences

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many of (a) all people in prison and (b) all people in prison who self-identified as Muslims on 1 January 2014 had (i) no previous custodial sentences, (ii) one previous custodial sentence, (iii) between two and five previous custodial sentences, (iv) between six and 10 previous custodial sentences and (v) over 10 previous custodial sentences; [197068]

(2) how many of (a) all people in prison and (b) all people in prison who self-identified as Muslims on 1 January 2014 were serving custodial sentences of less than (i) one month, (ii) three months, (iii) six months, (iv) 12 months, (v) 24 months, (vi) 60 months, (vii) 10 years and (viii) over 10 years; [197067]

(3) what the nationality was of (a) all people in prison and (b) people in prison who self-identified as Muslim on 1 January 2014; [197069]

(4) how many of (a) those in prison and (b) those in prison who self-identified as Muslim were (i) under the age of 18, (ii) aged between 18 and 21, (iii) aged between 21 and 25, (iv) aged between 26 and 30, (v) aged between 31 and 40, (vi) aged between 41 and 50, (vii) aged between 51 and 65 and (viii) aged over 65 years on 1 January 2014. [197090]

Jeremy Wright: Data are held centrally on the prison population in England and Wales on the last day of each month, so figures have been provided for 31December

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2013 (with the exception of PQ 197068 which has been answered as at 30 June 2013—the latest available data for criminal history information).

For PQ 197067, table 1 below provides the number for the sentenced prison population by sentence length for self-declared Muslim prisoners and the total for all religions.

For PQ 197068, table 2 provides the number of offenders in prison on 30 June 2013 who identified themselves as Muslim and all other religions by the number of previous custodial sentences received.

For PQ 197069, table 3 provides the prison population by nationality for self-declared Muslims and the total for all other religions.

For PQ 197090, table 4 provides the prison population by age group for self-declared Muslims and the total for all other religions.

Please note that the religion of prisoners is self-declared and prisoners are under no obligation to declare their religion.

These 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.

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Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons were (a) receivers and (b) suppliers of detached duty staff in each month since December 2013. [194628]

Jeremy Wright: A nationally co-ordinated detached duty scheme has been operating since 21 October 2013. Information on which public sector establishments have either received or provided staff on detached duty since the beginning of the nationally co-ordinated scheme until 31 December 2013 is contained in the following table. Some allocations outside of the national scheme continued after October 2013 but are not included in the information provided. London region particularly allocated staff within their own region. Information is

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collected on the staffing allocated. On occasions the resource is not actually deployed due to changes in local circumstances.

The deployment of staff between prisons on detached duty is a regular and normal part of prison resourcing. It allows staff to be allocated from prisons with the capacity to provide them, to those where additional staffing is required. On average over the three-month period (October to December 2013), less than 1% of staff were provided on detached duty. A large proportion of the capacity was available from prisons that were in the process of closure or going through a re-role. This process temporarily releases a number of officers who are not supplied for specific occasions but are sent and received on a shift pattern throughout the week.

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Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons were operating below the (a) benchmark and (b) baseline staffing level in (i) December 2013, (ii) January, (iii) February and (iv) March 2014. [195527]

Jeremy Wright: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply given on 13 May 2014, Official Report, column 480W, in which the benchmark level and staff in post of prison officers was provided.

Benchmarking is by far the best means of delivering value for money for the public purse (savings of £175 million by 2015-16). It optimises the skills of staff by introducing new ways of working and puts all prison officers in prisoner-facing roles.

Our benchmarking approach has been agreed with the unions, and it will help the wider strategy of reconfiguring the prison estate which the NAO has commented is the most coherent and comprehensive for many years. Benchmarking delivers efficiencies while ensuring that public sector prisons can operate safely, decently and securely.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many sexual assaults on prison staff there were in each prison in each of the last four years. [197082]

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Jeremy Wright: Due to the low numbers of sexual assaults on prison staff, the information requested cannot be provided in order to protect the confidentiality of those staff involved.

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many members of staff in each prison in England and Wales were serving on detached duty in (a) January, (b) February and (c) March 2014. [197292]

Jeremy Wright: A nationally co-ordinated detached duty scheme has been operating since 21 October 2013. Information on the number of officers serving on detached duty before the introduction of the national scheme is not available. The full-time equivalent of officers provided on detached duty from the beginning of the nationally co-ordinated scheme until the 31 December 2013 is contained in the following table. Some allocations outside of the national scheme continued after October 2013 but is not included in the information provided. London region particularly allocated staff within their own region. Information collected on the staffing allocated. On occasions the resource is not actually deployed due to changes in local circumstances.

The deployment of staff between prisons on detached duty is a regular and normal part of prison resourcing. It allows staff to be allocated from prisons with the capacity to provide them, to those where additional staffing is required. On average over the three month period (October to December 2013), less than 1% of staff were provided on detached duty. A large proportion of the capacity was available from prisons that were in the process of closure or going through a re-role. This process temporarily releases a number of officers who are not supplied for specific occasions but are sent and received on a shift pattern throughout the week.

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers were serving on detached duty in each month from January 2011 to January 2014. [197293]

Jeremy Wright: A nationally co-ordinated detached duty scheme has been operating since 21 October 2013. Information on the number of officers serving on detached duty before the introduction of the national scheme is not available. The full-time equivalent of officers provided on detached duty from the beginning of the nationally co-ordinated scheme until the 31 December 2013 is contained in the following table. Some allocations outside of the national scheme continued after October 2013 but is not included in the information provided. London region particularly allocated staff within their own region.

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Information collected on the staffing allocated. On occasions the resource is not actually deployed due to changes in local circumstances.

The deployment of staff between prisons on detached duty is a regular and normal part of prison resourcing. It allows staff to be allocated from prisons with the capacity to provide them, to those where additional staffing is required. On average over the three month period (October to December 2013), less than 1% of staff were provided on detached duty. A large proportion of the capacity was available from prisons that were in the process of closure or going through a re-role. This process temporarily releases a number of officers who are not supplied for specific occasions but are sent and received on a shift pattern throughout the week.

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent by his Department on travel and accommodation costs for prison officers serving on detached duty in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013. [197294]

Jeremy Wright: Identifying total travel and accommodation costs for prisons serving detached duty would require manual collation of data from online expenses systems and travel providers, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Prisoners

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many vulnerable prisoners are currently held in prisons in England and Wales; [197198]

(2) how many vulnerable prisoners are held in dedicated vulnerable prisoner accommodation. [197220]

Jeremy Wright: The term ‘vulnerable prisoner’ covers a wide range of prisoner types/characteristics but broadly these are those who need protection from themselves and other prisoners for a variety of reasons, including the nature of their offence, debt or conflicts outside or within the prison.

Our approach to managing these prisoners varies according to the nature of why they are deemed vulnerable and is dependent on specific offending needs.

The number of prisoners in England and Wales who are identified as vulnerable is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as it would involve contacting every prison directly in order to request how many prisoners each prison has identified, or is managing, as a vulnerable prisoner.

All closed prisons in England and Wales have the facility to accommodate vulnerable prisoners in designated accommodation.

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Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women in prison for committing an offence involving violence against the person where the victim was (i) male and (ii) female. [197797]

Jeremy Wright: There is a comprehensive range of offences dealing with violence against the person and the sentencing framework and sentencing guidelines apply equally to all offenders. Sentencing in individual cases is entirely a matter for the courts, taking account of all the circumstances of each case. This will include the seriousness of the offence, including all aggravating and mitigating factors, and a guilty plea. Defendants are now more likely to be convicted for committing crime and sent to prison for longer than they were a decade ago.

The information held within the prison population data is not available at sufficient enough detail to identify the gender of the victim. However, the figures in Table 1.2 of the latest offender management statistics,

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-october-december-2013-and-annual

show how many men and women are in prison by offence type.

Prisoners' Home Leave

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of eligible (a) male and (b) female offenders were recalled on a fixed-term recall instead of a standard recall (i) in 2008, (ii) in 2009, (iii) in 2010, (iv) in 2011, (v) in 2012 and (vi) since 3 December 2012. [191215]

Jeremy Wright: It has not been possible to obtain this information. I will write to my hon. Friend in due course.

Prisoners: British Nationals Abroad

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) of what crimes UK citizens returned from abroad to complete their custodial sentences in prisons in England and Wales had been convicted in each of the last four years; [197633]

(2) how many UK citizens returned from abroad to complete their custodial sentences in prisons in England and Wales in each of the last four years; [197631]

(3) from which countries UK citizens returned to complete their sentences in prisons in England and Wales in each of the last four years; [197632]

(4) what length of custodial sentence had been given to each UK citizen returned from abroad to complete their custodial sentence in prisons in England and Wales in each of the last four years; and how much of their sentence remained on their arrival back in the UK in each such case. [197634]

Jeremy Wright: It has not been possible to obtain this information. I will write to my hon. Friend in due course.

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Prisoners: Driving Instruction

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many serving prisoners received driving lessons in the latest period for which figures are available. [197787]

Jeremy Wright: In 2013, the latest year for which data are available, 190 prisoners were recorded as taking car driving lessons/tests.

All prisoners are thoroughly risk-assessed before being allowed to take these lessons and are only permitted to do so if the licence is required to help their rehabilitation, for example improving future employment prospects, thus reducing their likelihood of re-offending.

Prisoners: Pay

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the maximum is a prisoner can earn per (a) week, (b) month and (c) year from working while serving a custodial sentence. [197656]

Jeremy Wright: Maximum rates of pay for prisoners are not set centrally. Governors have responsibility for setting rates of pay in each establishment, which should reflect regime priorities. NOMS Prisoners' Pay policy is set out in Prison Service Order 4460, a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library.

Prisoners: Radicalism

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what mechanisms are in place for (a) prisoners and (b) prison officers and staff to raise concerns about the radicalisation of prisoners; [193202]

(2) on how many occasions (a) prison officers, (b) prison governors and (c) prison staff in each prison in England and Wales have raised concerns about radicalisation in each year since 2010. [193205]

Jeremy Wright: Any prisoner who wishes to raise concerns about radicalisation will be able to raise those concerns with a member of staff, in person, or anonymously. Prisoners are also able to raise concerns through other channels such as the IMB, their MP or the Prison and Probation Ombudsman. Any member of staff who has such concerns can submit an intelligence report or speak to a colleague, manager, their security department or specialist staff.

Prison staff are required to report on a wide range of behaviours linked to extremist motivated activities some of which could represent radicalisation. Such reports are considered by a prison-based multi agency panel to help access the motivation for the reported behaviour and to direct further action to develop the information or to intervene with the prisoner. Where appropriate these reports are escalated to regional or national level.

To establish the number of reports submitted would therefore require examining the records of all prisoners in the system which could only be done at significant disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Self-harm

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many self-harm incidents there were (a) in total and (b) per 1,000 prisoners in each prison in each of the last four years. [197045]

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Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not tolerate violence of any kind in prisons and any instance is taken very seriously.

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.

Over the last five years the rate of assaults has fallen by 13%.

The number of assaults by prison for 2010 to 2013 can be found in table 3.14 of the assaults section of the latest Safety in Custody Statistics bulletin which can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics

The number of self-harm incidents by prison for 2010 to 2013 can be found in table 2.13 of the self-harm section of the above bulletin.

The other numbers requested covering 2010 to 2013 have been placed in the Library. Table 1 shows the number of serious assaults by prison. Table 2 shows the number of assault incidents per 1,000 prisoners by prison. Table 3 shows the number of self-harm incidents per 1,000 prisoners by prison.

Risk of assault and self-harm is distributed unevenly around the prison estate. Gender, age and other factors such as the size and composition of the prison population, can affect the number of self-harm or assault incidents that occur in a particular establishment. Therefore, careful interpretation is needed of the incident and rates tables at a prison level.

Prisoners: Suicide

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Prison and Probation Ombudsman's (PPO) report on Learning from PPO Investigations: Risk factors in self-inflicted deaths in prisons. [197587]

Jeremy Wright: We will carefully consider the Ombudsman’s recommendations made in the Learning Lessons Bulletin on Risk Factors in self-inflicted deaths in prison to identify further learning. I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the Lord’s oral question on 6 February 2014, Official Report, column 36, announcing that the Government have established an Independent Review into the self-inflicted deaths of 18 to 24-year-olds in NOMS custody. The review is being led by Lord Harris of Haringey and will report by spring 2015. NOMS takes the safety of prisoners very seriously and draws learning from individual death in custody reports from the PPO as quickly as possible.

Prisons

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what additional staffing requirements will arise in HM Prison Hull and HM Prison Chelmsford from the re-opening of closed wings; what the cost of this re-opening will be; and where any additional staff be sourced from; [197091]

(2) what extra capacity will be created by re-opening the closed wings at (a) HM Prison Hull and (b) HM Prison Chelmsford; [197092]

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(3) how much will have been spent on maintining the closed wings at HM Prison Hull and HM Prison Chelmsford by the time both will re-open; [197093]

(4) how much has been spent maintaining the closed wings at HM Prison Hull and HM Prison Chelmsford to date; [197094]

(5) when the re-opened wings at (a) HM Prison Hull and (b) HM Prison Chelmsford will take prisoners; [197095]

(6) for what reasons the closed wings at (a) HM Prison Hull and (b) HM Prison Chelmsford were (i) closed and (ii) re-opened. [197096]

Jeremy Wright: We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts and continue to modernise the prison estate so that it delivers best value for the taxpayer.

This Government have a long-term strategy for managing the prison estate. We will have increased the adult male prison capacity so that we have more places than we inherited from the previous Government.

The retention of significant spare prison capacity over and above what is required is expensive and cannot be justified given the current financial climate. The mothballing of spare capacity at HM Prisons Chelmsford and Hull saved the taxpayer £3.6 million in the financial year 2013-14. This compares to the significantly lower cost of maintaining this accommodation on a mothballed basis, so that it could be reactivated if necessary.

We have reviewed the refurbishment requirements at both sites and believe that, with minor investment, they can now be reopened on a contingency basis without carrying out a full refurbishment. These costs are anticipated to be around £132,000 by the time they have reopened. From the end of March to date, around £12,000 has been spent on Chelmsford, and around £107,000 has been spent on Hull.

The indicative additional staffing requirement to reactivate the places at Hull is around 65 members of staff—of which approximately 40 are uniformed. The indicative additional staffing requirement to reactivate the places at Chelmsford is around 30 members of staff—of which approximately 20 are uniformed grades. This means we are able to create additional places at an average cost of £7,000 per place (subject to final benchmarking review), as opposed to the average cost of a prison per place of £26,139.

The staffing requirement will initially be met by short term detached duty from other prisons, before looking to redeploy staff permanently where surpluses exist—and if necessary through external recruitment.

Subject to certification, Hull will create 282 places and Chelmsford 148 places, with prisoners due to start arriving this summer.

The reactivation of these places is a prudent and good value for money response to an increased prison population. Under the previous administration, police and court cells were turned into temporary prisons, with over 50,000 prisoners held in these cells in 2007-08 alone.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much in total his Department expects to have spent on mothballing the closed wings at HM Prison

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Hull and HM Prison Chelmsford by the time they re-open. [197903]

Jeremy Wright: We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts and continue to modernise the prison estate so that it delivers best value for the taxpayer.

This Government have a long-term strategy for managing the prison estate. We will have increased the adult male prison capacity so that we have more places than we inherited from the previous Government.

The retention of significant spare prison capacity over and above what is required is expensive and cannot be justified given the current financial climate. The mothballing of spare capacity at HM Prisons Chelmsford and Hull saved the taxpayer £3.6 million in the financial year 2013-14. This compares to the significantly lower cost of maintaining this accommodation on a mothballed basis, so that it could be reactivated if necessary.

We have reviewed the refurbishment requirements at both sites and believe that, with minor investment, they can now be reopened on a contingency basis without carrying out a full refurbishment. These costs are anticipated to be around £132,000 by the time they have reopened. From the end of March to date, around £12,000 has been spent on Chelmsford, and around £107,000 has been spent on Hull.

Subject to certification, Hull will create 282 places and Chelmsford 148 places, with prisoners due to start arriving this summer.

The reactivation of these places is a prudent and good value for money response to an increased prison population. Under the previous Administration, police and court cells were turned into temporary prisons, with over 50,000 prisoners held in these cells in 2007-08 alone.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) assault incidents, (b) serious assaults and (c) assault incidents per 1,000 prisoners there were in each prison in each of the last four years. [197044]

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not tolerate violence of any kind in prisons and any instance is taken very seriously.

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.

Over the last five years the rate of assaults has fallen by 13%.

The number of assaults by prison for 2010 to 2013 can be found in table 3.14 of the assaults section of the latest Safety in Custody Statistics bulletin which can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics

The number of self-harm incidents by prison for 2010 to 2013 can be found in table 2.13 of the self-harm section of the above bulletin.

The other numbers requested covering 2010 to 2013 have been placed in the Library. Table 1 shows the number of serious assaults by prison. Table 2 shows the

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number of assault incidents per 1,000 prisoners by prison. Table 3 shows the number of self-harm incidents per 1,000 prisoners by prison.

Risk of assault and self-harm is distributed unevenly around the prison estate. Gender, age and other factors such as the size and composition of the prison population, can affect the number of self-harm or assault incidents that occur in a particular establishment. Therefore, careful interpretation is needed of the incident and rates tables at a prison level.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) assaults and (b) serious assaults on staff per 1,000 prisoners there were in each prison in each of the last four years. [197354]

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not tolerate violence of any kind in prisons and any instance is taken very seriously.

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.

Over the last five years, the rate of assaults has fallen by 13%.

Risk of assault is distributed unevenly around the prison estate. Gender, age and other factors such as the size and composition of the prison population, can affect the number assault incidents that occur in a particular establishment. Therefore, careful interpretation is needed of the incident and rates tables at a prison level.

The number of (a) assaults on staff per 1,000 prisoners in each prison has been placed in the Library.

Due to the low number of serious assaults on prison staff at prison level, the information requested on rates (b) cannot be provided in order to protect the confidentiality of those staff involved.

Prisons: Disciplinary Proceedings

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions the Prison Service Gold Command has been opened in each of the last 36 months; and what the nature was of each incident that caused it to be opened. [197468]

Jeremy Wright: A Gold Command Suite (GCS) is located at National Offender Management Service (NOMS) headquarters in London. It provides strategic assistance in the managing of serious prison incidents to the Governor of a prison in England and Wales.

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Although there has been an increase in the number of times the GCS was opened, the number of callouts of Tornado staff (a mutual aid arrangement between prisons who respond to the most serious incidents that cannot be managed locally) is half of what it was in 2007. There has been no rise in the number of serious incidents being attended.

A large part of the increase in the number of times the GCS was opened was for hostage incidents. Many incidents that we manage as “hostage” we believe to be acts of collusion between the alleged perpetrator and victim(s) in attempts to have their demands met. NOMS National Tactical Response Group, which has the specialist skills required to deal with such incidents, is frequently called to attend as a precautionary measure. Many of these incidents are dealt with very quickly with minimal disruption to the prison.

Prisons: Employment

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what items prisoners are barred from purchasing with earned income. [197083]

Jeremy Wright: Prisoners are barred from purchasing those items which could compromise good order, security and safety, or which is otherwise unlawful. Prisoners are also not permitted to purchase items that are prohibited for reasons of public protection.

Under the incentives and earned privileges national policy framework, prisoners can purchase those items that the governor has selected from the standardised facilities list, which identifies and limits the property that prisoners can retain in their cells.