We are enhancing security measures and easing crowding to curb violence and improve safety in prisons, as well as looking at measures to improve meaningful activity to increase welfare. We are investing around £15 million in protective equipment to help keep frontline staff working in prisons safe, including expanding the use of Tasers and providing more protective body armour.
Lowdham Grange prison in my constituency is a failing prison, and I have been inundated with correspondence from prisoners, families and staff who on a regular basis inform me about unsafe conditions and a toxic culture of bullying, as well as incidents of violence, drugs and self-harm, many of which are not recorded; and there is no access to healthcare professionals. Since the last inspection in 2023, 10 prisoners have died. The prisoners have also had 32 days of lockdown in the past two years, and the prison has the worst possible rating for safety. Does the Minister agree that it is time for the Government to make a direct intervention in this prison?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that important case, which is very much on the radar of the Ministry of Justice. I will raise the issue personally with the Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending in the other place. I am personally committed to this issue, and I will visit Lowdham Grange in the new year, hopefully with my hon. Friend, to meet the governor and others to discuss those critical issues.
The Minister will be aware that a number of prisoners are currently undertaking a hunger strike. They are remand prisoners, and some of them do not have a trial date until 2027. Deep concerns have been expressed by them, their families and their legal representatives about access to medical treatment, as well as how they have been treated when taken to hospital. Would the Minister be able to meet their legal representatives, and their families if necessary, to discuss the situation and try to help with the safety of these prisoners?
No. Luckily, the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Service have robust and proper guidance and procedures for when such scenarios come to fruition. I am satisfied, and the Ministry is satisfied, that those procedures are being enacted, and we will continue to keep that under review.