Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 183
183
Deferred
Systemic failure to maintain prison physical security measures due to delays and inadequate resourcing
Conclusion
Our evidence overwhelmingly points to a systemic failure to maintain physical measures which act as prisons’ first line of defence. The operational effectiveness of physical security is being defeated by avoidable delays in maintenance, inadequate resourcing and overly bureaucratic procurement processes, rather than sophisticated criminal innovation. The structural integrity of the prison estate and the speed of repairs for critical security infrastructure, such as netting and windows, are currently insufficient to meet the threat posed by throwovers and drone deliveries. (Conclusion, Paragraph 84)
Government Response Summary
The government's response outlines efforts to improve the interoperability of health and MoJ IT systems, including a re-procurement of clinical systems in early 2026 and the development of a digital service for data sharing, rather than addressing the maintenance of physical security infrastructure.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
We recognise that Health systems and MoJ systems are not currently interoperable. NHSE is committed to working in partnership with HMPPS and the MoJ to appropriately integrate systems. NHSE is undertaking a re- procurement of the current clinical systems early in 2026, this will include requirements for interoperability with criminal justice systems, as well as other community health systems such as NDTMS. To reduce the administrative burden on staff dealing with information exchange between prisoners and the organisations they interact with, the Government has invested an additional £8 million in new technology since taking office. HMPPS has developed and implemented the External Integration Application Programming Interface (API); a strategic digital service designed to facilitate secure, real-time data sharing with third parties to access prison data. This is aligned with our standard practice of de-coupled integration, whereby each organisation retains responsibility for its systems and data flows. The continued development of this service is being designed with interoperability in mind and, in future, has the potential to support two-way data exchange, subject to appropriate governance and safeguards. The recently published Chief Medical Officer Report agreed and highlights that Health data are essential for safe, high-quality care, research, surveillance and planning of health services inside and outside prison There are also many IT systems that sit across multiple government departments and organisations relevant to healthcare and many of these systems cannot communicate with one another.