Liam Fox – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the spread of Islamic extremism among the prison population.

Jeremy Wright

We are alert to the risks posed by individuals who may wish to radicalise others, and we are committed to tackling radicalisation in the prison environment as an important element of our responsibility to protect the public and reduce re-offending.

NOMS has in place a wide-ranging programme of work to manage individuals convicted of terrorist or related offences. This programme focuses on: increasing the counter-terrorism intelligence infrastructure working with partner agencies; ensuring provision of an effective Chaplaincy which can challenge extremist ideology; structured risk assessment tools and bespoke interventions; staff briefing and training, and robust processes for the management of offenders on release.

NOMS contributes to the cross-Government CT strategy CONTEST, and works alongside other Departments to manage the threat posed. As with all significant criminal threats, a multi-agency approach is taken to ensure that information and learning is shared between agencies.