Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-29.

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.

Jeremy Wright

The information regarding when HM Prison Highdown 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 below. 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 8 and 10 hours a day. For those that do not engage, they are still out of their cell for a minimum of 4 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 Highdown has had to close workshops on the following occasions since September 2013:

October 2013

14^th and 22^nd

November 2013

1^st (workshop 6 only)

20^th

December 2013

9^th (workshop 6 only)

16^th (am)

January 2014

6^th

16^th (pm, workshops 5 & 6)

20^th (workshops 4, 5 & 6)

21^st

29^th

31^st (am)

February 2014

18^th (workshop 5 & 6)

March 2014

No closures

April 2013

19^th (am)