Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times (a) gold, (b) silver and (c) bronze command suites were opened in each prison in each of the last three years.
Andrew Selous
Violence in prisons has increased in recent years. The nature of offenders currently in custody and the widespread availability of new psychoactive substances have both contributed to making prisons less safe. There is no single, simple solution to the problems we face but we are making progress.
We have launched a two year Violence Reduction project to help us to gain a better understanding of the causes and characteristics of violence in prisons and to strengthen the handling of this. We are also trialing the use of body worn cameras in prisons, training sniffer dogs to detect new psychoactive substances and have made it an offence to smuggle new psychoactive substances into prison. However, ultimately the only way to reduce violence in our prisons is to give governors and those who work in prisons the tools necessary to more effectively reform and rehabilitate offenders, which we are determined to see through.
The safety of staff and prisoners is a priority. Gold Command is opened in order to deal with incidents as quickly and safely as possible. Not all incidents turn out to be serious, but Gold Command is opened as a precaution when incidents are regarded as potentially serious.
Tables 1, 2 and 3 show the number of times Gold Command has been opened in each of the past three years by prison.
The decision to open Silver Command is made at the local level. Data regarding Silver Command openings is not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
There is no “Bronze Command suite” within NOMS incident response procedures.
Table 1: Number of times Gold Command Suite opened by prison in 2013
|
Prison |
Number of Incidents |
|
Aylesbury |
2 |
|
Cardiff |
1 |
|
Doncaster |
2 |
|
Elmley |
1 |
|
Everthorpe |
2 |
|
Featherstone |
1 |
|
Full Sutton |
1 |
|
Garth |
1 |
|
Gartree |
1 |
|
Glen Parva |
4 |
|
Haverigg |
1 |
|
Hewell |
2 |
|
High Down |
2 |
|
Holme House |
1 |
|
Hull |
3 |
|
Isis |
1 |
|
Lewes |
1 |
|
Lincoln |
2 |
|
Lindholme |
3 |
|
Long Lartin |
3 |
|
Maidstone |
1 |
|
Moorland |
2 |
|
Morton Hall |
1 |
|
National – Industrial Action |
1 |
|
Northumberland |
1 |
|
Onley |
1 |
|
Pentonville |
1 |
|
Peterborough |
1 |
|
Preston |
1 |
|
Ranby |
1 |
|
Risley |
2 |
|
Rye Hill |
1 |
|
Stafford |
1 |
|
Stocken |
3 |
|
Swaleside |
1 |
|
Swinfen Hall |
6 |
|
Warren Hill |
1 |
|
Wayland |
1 |
|
Wealstun |
2 |
|
Wetherby |
3 |
|
Wolds |
1 |
|
Woodhill |
1 |
|
Wormwood Scrubs |
1 |
|
Wymott |
1 |
Table 2: Number of times Gold Command Suite opened by prison in 2014
|
Prison |
Number of Incidents |
|
Altcourse |
2 |
|
Aylesbury |
1 |
|
Brinsford |
1 |
|
Bristol |
1 |
|
Bullingdon |
3 |
|
Cardiff |
1 |
|
Channings Wood |
2 |
|
Chelmsford |
1 |
|
Cookham Wood |
1 |
|
Deerbolt |
3 |
|
Doncaster |
1 |
|
Elmley |
1 |
|
Garth |
1 |
|
Glen Parva |
7 |
|
Harmondsworth |
1 |
|
Haslar |
1 |
|
Haverigg |
3 |
|
Highpoint |
1 |
|
Holme House |
1 |
|
Humber |
4 |
|
Leeds |
1 |
|
Lincoln |
1 |
|
Lindholme |
3 |
|
Littlehey |
1 |
|
Moorland |
3 |
|
Morton Hall |
1 |
|
National – Industrial Action |
1 |
|
Northumberland |
2 |
|
Norwich |
1 |
|
Nottingham |
1 |
|
Oakwood |
1 |
|
Onley |
1 |
|
Portland |
1 |
|
Preston |
2 |
|
Ranby |
3 |
|
Rochester |
3 |
|
Rye Hill |
1 |
|
Stoke Heath |
1 |
|
Swaleside |
4 |
|
Swansea |
1 |
|
Swinfen Hall |
3 |
|
Wayland |
3 |
|
Winchester |
2 |
Table 3: Number of times Gold Command Suite opened by prison in 2015
|
Prison |
Number of Incidents |
|
Brinsford |
1 |
|
Deerbolt |
3 |
|
Doncaster |
2 |
|
Dovegate |
1 |
|
Durham |
1 |
|
Featherstone |
2 |
|
Garth |
3 |
|
Gartree |
1 |
|
Glen Parva |
3 |
|
Haverigg |
2 |
|
Highdown |
2 |
|
Highpoint |
2 |
|
Hull |
1 |
|
Humber |
3 |
|
Isis |
3 |
|
Isle of Wight |
1 |
|
Lancaster Farms |
1 |
|
Leeds |
2 |
|
Leicester |
5 |
|
Lewes |
1 |
|
Lincoln |
2 |
|
Lindholme |
3 |
|
Liverpool |
2 |
|
Long Lartin |
1 |
|
Lowdham Grange |
1 |
|
Manchester |
1 |
|
Morton Hall |
1 |
|
Nottingham |
2 |
|
Onley |
1 |
|
Pentonville |
2 |
|
Portland |
1 |
|
Ranby |
1 |
|
Rochester |
1 |
|
Stocken |
3 |
|
Swaleside |
5 |
|
Swinfen Hall |
2 |
|
The Mount |
2 |
|
Wandsworth |
5 |
|
Wayland |
3 |
|
Werrington |
1 |
|
Whatton |
1 |
|
Whitemoor |
1 |
|
Woodhill |
1 |
