Every parliamentary written question tabled by Ben Goldsborough this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 141–160 of 313 · this parliament
What proportion of offenders on the (a) secure estate and (b) young offenders institute estate were unlocked for (i) less than two hours, (ii) more than two hours and (iii) more than eight hours in each of the last 10 financial years.
As we do not hold sufficient data to undertake the necessary calculations, it is not possible to provide the requested information.
How many unpaid work (a) staff and (b) supervisors have been employed in each of the last 10 financial years.
The number of unpaid work (a) staff and (b) supervisors that have been employed in each of the last 10 financial years can be seen in the below table:Table 1 - Number of unpaid work staff in post on 31 March 2022 to 2024 and 31 December 2024 (Full Time Equivalent)Unpaid Work31-Mar-2231-Mar-2331-Mar-2431-Dec-24Unpaid Work: Non-supervisors237330365374Unpaid Work: Community Payback Supervisors435603623623Unpaid Work: Total staff671933989997 Information for unpaid work staff is not available prior to June 2021 due to due to the Community Rehabilitation Companies not being part of HMPPS.
Whether her Department has made an estimate of the value added by unpaid work projects on the secure estate.
While there is not anything specifically named ‘unpaid work’ in prisons, and we therefore cannot provide information on how much has been spent on it, convicted prisoners are expected to work and there are various jobs across prison workshops, kitchens, laundries and other services like wing cleaning, for which prisoners are paid. Prison industries can be commercial, employer-led spaces or can make products for the internal prison market that we would otherwise have to buy (such as cell furniture, prisoner clothing), saving the taxpayer money. There are also payback punishments in prisons, which act as a means for enabling prisoners to make amends to their prison community for their misbehaviour.
How many prisons have offered courses in (a) parenting and (b) relationships in each of the last 10 financial years.
HMPPS does not hold the data on how many prisons have offered courses in parenting and relationships in each of the last 10 financial years. Courses delivered under the Prison Education Framework (PEF) include both accredited and non-accredited courses as commissioned by the Governor, and the data system does not have the ability to filter by these subject categories. Whilst data records indicate that a number of courses have taken place since 2019, this only captures data for England, PEF provision only, and provides limited information on courses which are due to take place in the future
Whether she has issued guidance for prison governors to ensure offenders receive first-night well-being checks upon arrival onto the secure estate.
All prisons in England and Wales are guided by Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 07/2015 – ‘Early Days in Custody – Reception in, First Night in Custody and Induction to Custody’. This policy sets out the mandatory requirements for prisons in relation to those entering their custody. It ensures that prisoners are kept safe and supported during their first night in prison, with their immediate needs being met. This includes a medical assessment by healthcare and a risk assessment for potential harm to themselves, to and from others. Furthermore, they are provided with food, drink, access to a shower, and a telephone to contact their legal adviser or address urgent family issues. These instructions mandate that prison governors complete assessments to identify and address the immediate risks and needs of prisoners upon arrival into the prison. Such measures underline the importance of ensuring prisoners' safety and well-being during their initial days in custody.
How many teachers have been employed in prisons in each of the last 10 financial years.
All prisons screen prisoners on arrival for reading ability and offer a curriculum with reading as part of the Entry Level, Level 1 and Level 2 English courses.Courses delivered under the Prison Education Framework (PEF) include both accredited and non-accredited courses, commissioned by the Governor. To support and promote local reading strategies, prisons have procured additional reading services through the Prison Education Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). These provide further screening and assessment and deliver tailored support to prisoners with learning disabilities or difficulties, or prisoners who are speakers of other languages with English needs. The Prison Education DPS has been used since 2020 to deliver 96 call-off contracts for reading and literacy support in 85 prisons. These contracts have a combined value of £5.97 million.It is not possible to provide information on how many prisons have offered courses in reading programmes in each of the last ten financial years, or how many teachers were employed over that period. In 2025, 1554 teachers were employed in public sector prisons in England.
How much funding was allocated to reading programmes on the secure estate in each of the last 10 financial years.
All prisons screen prisoners on arrival for reading ability and offer a curriculum with reading as part of the Entry Level, Level 1 and Level 2 English courses.Courses delivered under the Prison Education Framework (PEF) include both accredited and non-accredited courses, commissioned by the Governor. To support and promote local reading strategies, prisons have procured additional reading services through the Prison Education Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). These provide further screening and assessment and deliver tailored support to prisoners with learning disabilities or difficulties, or prisoners who are speakers of other languages with English needs. The Prison Education DPS has been used since 2020 to deliver 96 call-off contracts for reading and literacy support in 85 prisons. These contracts have a combined value of £5.97 million.It is not possible to provide information on how many prisons have offered courses in reading programmes in each of the last ten financial years, or how many teachers were employed over that period. In 2025, 1554 teachers were employed in public sector prisons in England.
How many prisons have a reading (a) strategy and (b) programme.
All prisons screen prisoners on arrival for reading ability and offer a curriculum with reading as part of the Entry Level, Level 1 and Level 2 English courses.Courses delivered under the Prison Education Framework (PEF) include both accredited and non-accredited courses, commissioned by the Governor. To support and promote local reading strategies, prisons have procured additional reading services through the Prison Education Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). These provide further screening and assessment and deliver tailored support to prisoners with learning disabilities or difficulties, or prisoners who are speakers of other languages with English needs. The Prison Education DPS has been used since 2020 to deliver 96 call-off contracts for reading and literacy support in 85 prisons. These contracts have a combined value of £5.97 million.It is not possible to provide information on how many prisons have offered courses in reading programmes in each of the last ten financial years, or how many teachers were employed over that period. In 2025, 1554 teachers were employed in public sector prisons in England.
How many offenders have left prison without an identified (a) employment, (b) education and (c) training outcome in each of the last 10 financial years.
The Ministry of Justice does not hold this information.While we do publish employment on release outcomes, this does not extend over the past 10 financial years. Our employment outcomes data report employment status at six weeks following release and six months following release and cover the period back to 2019-20.The data, which include the unemployed and unavailable for work groups, can be found at the following link: Offender Employment Outcome Statistics - GOV.UK.For education, although we do not hold information on the number of prisoners leaving prison without an identified education or training outcome. We have previously published information on prison education and accredited programme attainment dating back to 2019-20. This can be accessed at the following link: Prison Education and Accredited Programme Statistics - GOV.UK.
If her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the use of force by staff on the secure estate on reoffending rates.
Physical intervention to resolve incidents is only ever to be used as a last resort. Staff receive extensive training in de-escalation techniques and conflict resolution to reduce the need for physical intervention, and regular reviews and analyses of use of force incidents help identify areas for improvement and ensure accountability. In its Use of Force Policy Framework - GOV.UK, His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) sets out mandatory instructions and professional standards for staff, ensuring that any use of force is lawful, necessary, and proportionate. The rehabilitation services and interventions that HMPPS provides help to address underlying issues that may lead to conflict, reducing the need for force to be used. They also give prisoners the support and skills they need to find employment, accommodation, and to build and maintain support networks, which we know are significant factors in reducing re-offending.
How many incidents of assault on unpaid work staff have been reported in each of the last 10 financial years.
Community Rehabilitation Companies previously held responsibility for unpaid work, until being unified back into the National Probation Service on 26 June 2021. HM Prisons and Probation Service does not hold incident reporting information prior to this date. The data below is taken from the accident reporting platform for the financial years 2021-2025. It is important to us that all our staff on the frontline are safe and we will do whatever it takes to protect our hardworking staff. Detailed risk assessments are carried out and probation staff are trained at handling incidents and de-escalation. Anyone who assaults a member of staff could have criminal charges brought against them.Date RangePhysical AssaultNon-Physical Assault1/6/21 – 31/3/22211021/4/22 – 31/3/23223031/4/23 – 31/3/24363181/4/24 – 31/3/25303661/4/25 – 24/4/25022Note: Physical Assaults includes any incident where contact is made. Non-Physical Assaults includes verbal or written abuse and intimidating behaviour.
What proportion of offenders on the secure estate undertook (a) unpaid work, (b) education and (c) vocational training in each of the last 10 financial years.
We set out management information relating to three relevant elements of purposeful activity below. However, this data was only developed as a measure from 2021/2022 so we are unable to provide it for the last 10 years. The percentages include prisoners who complete at least one session per week (part-time activity).The measures don’t apply to privately managed prisons who use different data recording systems. They also exclude from scope those prisoners on remand, those aged over 65, those who were in healthcare or segregation for more than five days in the week, prisoners in more than one prison in the week and/or those only in prison for less than a week. Category2021/222022/232023/24Industries14%19%21%Education13%20%21%Services32%33%34% There is nothing we refer to as ‘unpaid work’ in prison but prisoners work in various roles across the prison both in industry (for example in textiles workshops) and in services (for example working in the kitchens or laundry). ‘Education’ covers both functional skills and vocational training (we do not separate them)
How much money has been spent on unpaid work in the secure estate in each of the last 10 financial years.
While there is not anything specifically named ‘unpaid work’ in prisons, and we therefore cannot provide information on how much has been spent on it, convicted prisoners are expected to work and there are various jobs across prison workshops, kitchens, laundries and other services like wing cleaning, for which prisoners are paid. Prison industries can be commercial, employer-led spaces or can make products for the internal prison market that we would otherwise have to buy (such as cell furniture, prisoner clothing), saving the taxpayer money. There are also payback punishments in prisons, which act as a means for enabling prisoners to make amends to their prison community for their misbehaviour.
How many offenders on the secure estate were held in unsuitable conditions while awaiting transfer in each of the last 10 financial years.
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service do not hold prisoners in unsuitable physical conditions. Maintenance issues are reported locally to facilities management providers, who prioritise them for action. Cells that are deemed unsuitable for safety or decency reasons are either assessed for immediate action or, where necessary, removed from the prison’s operational capacity until restored to a suitable condition.To ascertain whether a prisoner awaiting transfer had ever been held in conditions that could be considered unsuitable would require a detailed search of individual prisoner, prison wing, and facilities management records. In view of the large number of transfers that take place each year, the requested information could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
How many offenders entering the secure estate had an (a) English and (b) mathematics functional skills level (a) below and (b) above entry-level 3 in each of the last 10 financial years.
The functional skills level of prisoners recorded from initial English and maths assessments are published as part of the annual Prison Education and Accredited Programmes Statistics at Prison Education and Accredited Programme Statistics - GOV.UK. The Ministry of Justice holds this data from 2019. Before this, prison education was the responsibility of the Department for Education.
How many (a) offender-on-offender and (b) offender-on-staff assaults have taken place on the secure estate in each of the last 10 financial years.
The number of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults and assaults on staff for the financial year are shown in the summary tables of the Safety in Custody publication to March 2024: Safety in custody: quarterly update to March 2024 - GOV.UK Specifically, table 4 in the summary tables for this release gives these figures.Please note that:Figures from April 2018 onwards exclude incidents occurring within the youth estate, so figures for 2018 are not comparable with the years before or after, due to youth estate incidents being included in part of the year, from January to April 2018. The youth estate includes incidents occurring within Cookham Wood, Werrington and Wetherby, as well as the youth wing at Feltham and Parc. Prior to April 2018 these figures were collected via manual returns, so it is not possible to split out all youth estate incidents up to March 2018. Figures for incidents occurring within the youth estate are published within the ‘Safety in the children and young people secure estate’ statistics bulletin via the following link - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/safety-in-the-youth-secure-estate-bulletin.Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults are a subset of all assault incidents.Assaults on staff are a subset of all assault incidents. Some assault incidents may be recorded as both a prisoner-on-prisoner assault and an assault on staff, so the sum of the two categories may exceed the total number of assaults.The figures for assaults on staff include all incidents where a member of staff was assaulted, which can include a small number of incidents where the assault was by someone other than a prisoner.
If she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a target for the number of offenders on the secure estate who have employment roles.
We know that finding employment after release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. Undertaking work in custody provides offenders with opportunity to develop key skills that will increase their chance of gaining employment on release and build links with real employers, reducing their risk of reoffending. The Government has committed to break the cycle of reoffending by improving offenders’ access to purposeful activity and to better support prisons to link up with employers and the voluntary sector to get more people with convictions into work. Whilst we do set targets for employment post-release, there are currently no plans to set targets for employment in prisons. However, HMPPS have introduced the National Regime Model, creating a national infrastructure for planning, reviewing and measuring purposeful activity for the first time. Every prison must now deliver a minimum of 60 minutes time in open air per day, 120 minutes time out of cell per day, and one quality key work session per month, and must also set out and be accountable to HMPPS on how they are improving their regime offer year on year.
What steps her Department is taking to reduce delays in prisoners accessing emergency hospital care.
Prison governors are responsible for ensuring that their establishments respond promptly and appropriately to medical emergencies, and that prison staff are aware of their own responsibilities and of the local procedures in place to support a streamlined response.Responses to medical emergencies in prisons are undertaken and monitored locally by both prison staff and healthcare staff. Prison staff will secure the attendance of medical staff. During the day, or where a prison has 24-hour healthcare, commissioned healthcare staff will assess what intervention is needed and determine whether hospital treatment is required. Prison staff will arrange for an ambulance to attend, if needed, and escort it to the nearest, safest point of access to the patient, ensuring arrival and departure times of ambulances are recorded locally.Any incidents, including the time taken to respond, are discussed between prison and healthcare staff, either as part of a full debrief (in the case of the most serious incidents) or as part of the regular daily reflection on the events of the previous day.
What steps her Department is taking to help reduce incidence of self harm on the secure estate.
We recognise that rates of self-harm across the estate are high, and we are taking action to address this.We provide individualised support through our case management process for people assessed as at risk of self-harm. This approach places a strong emphasis on identifying individual risks, triggers and protective factors and having effective care plans in place to record, address and mitigate risks.All new staff receive suicide and self-harm prevention and mental health awareness training, to increase skills in supporting at-risk prisoners.We fund Samaritans to train prisoners to provide emotional support to other prisoners in crisis (the Listener Scheme).
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure British Sugar agrees the (a) price and (b) terms of future sugar beet contracts with NFU Sugar.
The Government recognises the importance of sugar beet farmers and their vital contribution to UK sugar production. Also, that sugar beet itself, used in crop rotations, is beneficial to soil and crop health and allows arable farms a season of “rest” from cereal production. We are committed to promoting fairness across the food supply chain. That includes seeing a price agreed for sugar beet that benefits both growers and processors, in the context of the global market. There is a well-established process in place to agree the sugar beet price; designed to be independent between both parties. The NFU has a statutory mandate, under Article 125 of Regulation EU 1308/2013 (Retained EU Law on the common organisation of agricultural markets) to represent the interests of growers in all commercial dealings with the processor. An Inter Professional Agreement is agreed each year between both parties and sets out the process for negotiating and agreeing price, terms and conditions for the upcoming crop year, as well as any dispute resolution process.