Recommendation 5

HM Government Accepted

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HMPPS agree with the Committee that tackling substance misuse and violence is critical to prisons’ recovery from the pandemic. In the recently published Prisons Strategy White Paper,8 the MoJ set out its vision for a zero- tolerance approach to drugs, as well as plans to address the drivers of violence in prisons. The pandemic has disrupted prison regimes in an unprecedented manner, but it is vital that we learn lessons from the experiences of staff and prisoners during this time, to enable governors to adapt the regime to make our prisons safer, for example by thinking differently about how time out of cell and gatherings of prisoners are structured. Violence in Prisons HMPPS will continue to provide targeted support to prisons to embed key safety processes including the Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan, a framework which 4 service-specification-mental-health-for-prisons-in-england-2.pdf 5 service-specification-integrated-substance-misuse-treatment-service-in-prisons.pdf (england.nhs.uk) 6 primary-care-service-spec-medical-nursing-for-prisons-2020.pdf (england.nhs.uk) 7 NHS Long Term Plan » Online version of the NHS Long Term Plan 8 Prisons Strategy White Paper (publishing.service.gov.uk) helps prisoners manage and move away from violent behaviours. HMPPS will also start the roll out of a new safety training module on Violence Reduction in 2022, to refresh staff skills on identifying, managing and reducing violence, which will help staff de-escalate difficult situations. HMPPS will also introduce a peer support model so that ex-offenders can support prisoners at the start of their time in custody, and train existing prisoners to support their fellow prisoners’ wellbeing throughout their sentence, to provide a greater sense of hope and help reduce the risk of violence. HMPPS will continue to roll out the Offender Management in Custody Key Worker role, which provides staff with allotted time to provide one to one support to individual prisoners. The support is predicated on building constructive staff-prisoner relationships, to foster positive behaviours and build prisoner trust, confidence, hope and commitment to change. This extra support will help ensure the right culture is in place and improve safety. We recognise that specialist support is required to prevent prisoners harming themselves or others. In the Prisons Strategy White Paper, the MoJ has committed to providing an ‘Enhanced Support Service’ in local prisons to target the most complex behaviour. This involves mental health specialists and prison staff working together with the prisoner to address their individual risk factors. Youth Custody Service Levels of violence within the youth secure estate are too high and the MoJ and HMPPS are determined to improve youth custody, so that children are safer and better able to lead positive lives upon their release. This includes the roll-out of the Custody Support Plan which provides each child with a named officer to work with on a weekly basis to improve trust and consistency. We have also introduced two smaller Enhanced Support Units to support children with the most complex needs through delivery of more intensive rehabilitation work in a therapeutic environment. To de-escalate behaviour and prevent violence, we continue to train and upskill our staff, so they are better able to meet the needs of children in custody. Our approach is underpinned by ‘SECURE STAIRS’, the framework of integrated care jointly led by NHS England, NHS Improvement and the Youth Custody Service (YCS), encompassing education, health, and behavioural support to ensure each young person receives a full needs assessment and a tailored consistent level of care. Substance Abuse The MoJ and HMPPS have already invested £100 million to tackle all crime in prisons, including to stop drugs, weapons and phones from getting into prisons and fuelling violence. This includes the roll out of airport-style security measures to prevent contraband from getting into prisons, such as X-ray body scanners, which have been rolled out across the entire closed male estate. Enhanced Gate Security will also be deployed across 42 high-risk sites by the end of March 2022. A key part of the MoJ’s work to reduce drug use in prison is the recently published 10-year Cross-Government Drugs Strategy,9 which focuses on three pillars – restricting supply, reducing demand and building prisoners’ recovery. As part of the strategy, the MoJ will 9 From harm to hope: A 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) be investing £120 million to make sure that offenders fully engage with recovery-focused services, so they can lead lives that are both drug and crime free. Through the Strategy, we want to ensure all prisoners receive a comprehensive health screening within their first week to identify drug misuse and related health needs and agree a plan for recovery- focused treatment, including abstinence-b