Written questions, answers and statements

Prisons: Civil Disorder

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Question for Ministry of Justice

UIN 45566, tabled on 7 September 2016

Question

Jo Stevens
Labour
Cardiff Central
Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) on how many occasions, (b) in which prisons and (c) for what incidents the (i) Tornado Team was called, (ii) Gold Command was opened and (iii) National Tactical Response Group was called in each month since January 2016.

Answer

Mr Sam Gyimah
Conservative
East Surrey
Commons

Answered on

16 September 2016

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Gold Command arrangements provide for strategic and operational oversight to the management of prison incidents. All incidents are regarded as potentially serious at the point of the Gold suite being opened. The Gold Command Suite has been opened to oversee the management of a range of incidents during 2016 as indicated in Table 1.

Table 1 – Gold Command Suite Openings by Establishment/Incident Type and Month in 2016

Prison/Incident

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Bristol

Hostage

1

Brixton

Hostage

1

Cookham Wood

Hostage

1

Doncaster

Hostage

1

Elmley

Hostage

1

Erlestoke

Concerted Indiscipline

1

Featherstone

Barricade

1

Gartree

Hostage

1

Glen Parva

Hostage

1

Haverigg

Barricade

1

Concerted Indiscipline

1

1

High Down

Concerted Indiscipline

1

High Point

Hostage

1

Highpoint

Barricade

1

Hostage

1

Holme House

Hostage

1

Nat Strike/ Pot IA

1

Humber

Hostage

1

Isis

Hostage

1

Leicester

Hostage

1

Incident at Height

1

1

Liverpool

Hostage

1

Lowdham Grange

Barricade

1

Maidstone

Barricade

1

National

Nat Strike/ Pot IA

1

Norwich

Hostage

1

Nottingham

Hostage

2

1

1

Oakwood

Hostage

1

Portland

Concerted Indiscipline

1

Rochester

Incident at Height

1

Stoke Heath

Hostage

1

Swinfen Hall

Hostage

1

Nat Strike/ Pot IA

1

The Mount

Incident at Height

1

Wandsworth

Hostage

1

Wayland

Concerted Indiscipline

1

Hostage

1

Wetherby

Nat Strike/ Pot IA

1

2

Wormwood Scrubs

Nat Strike/ Pot IA

1

Grand Total

3

5

8

2

13

5

5

5

(Nat Strike/Pot IA refers to incidents of industrial action )

Tornado teams consist of prison officers in prisons who are trained in an advanced level of control and restraint techniques. NOMS has over 2000 such trained staff across the country. They have been deployed to establishments as detailed in Table 2.

Table 2 – Operation Tornado responses by receiving prison in 2016

Prison

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Doncaster

1

Haverigg

1

1

High Down

1

Erlestoke

1

Portland

1

Grand Total

1

1

2

2

The National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) provides additional support staff or resources to prisons to help them deal with a variety of incidents. The overwhelming majority of call outs are for non-violent incidents, including where they attended as a precaution and when the situation was resolved locally. NTRG deployments are detailed in Table 3.

Table 3 – NTRG deployment by receiving prison and incident type in 2016

Prison

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Altcourse

WAH - Internal

1

1

Aylesbury

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

1

Bedford

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

1

1

1

Belmarsh

WAH - Internal

1

1

Birmingham

WAH - Internal

2

1

1

1

Brinsford

WAH - Internal

1

Bristol

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

1

Brixton

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

1

Brook House

WAH - Internal

1

Buckley Hall

WAH - External

1

1

1

1

WAH - Internal

1

1

1

Bullingdon

WAH - Internal

1

Campsfield

Barricade

1

Cardiff

WAH - Internal

2

Channings Wood

Barricade

1

1

WAH - External

1

1

Chelmsford

Barricade

1

WAH - Internal

1

Coldingley

WAH - External

1

Cookham Wood

Concerted Indiscipline

1

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

3

Doncaster

Concerted Indiscipline

1

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

1

Dovegate

WAH - Internal

1

Durham

Barricade

1

Concerted Indiscipline

1

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

1

1

1

3

1

Elmley

Hostage - Prisoner

1

Erlestoke

Concerted Indiscipline

2

WAH - External

1

1

1

1

Exeter

Concerted Indiscipline

1

WAH - Internal

1

1

3

Featherstone

Barricade

1

WAH - Internal

1

Feltham

Barricade

1

Garth

Barricade

1

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

2

Gartree

Hostage - Prisoner

1

1

1

WAH - External

1

Glen Parva

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

1

Guys Marsh

Barricade

1

WAH - External

1

1

1

4

WAH - Internal

1

1

1

Haverigg

Concerted Indiscipline

1

1

2

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - External

1

1

1

3

4

WAH - Internal

1

1

1

Prisoner in Crisis

1

Hewell

Concerted Indiscipline

1

1

WAH - Internal

1

2

2

High Down

Concerted Indiscipline

1

WAH - External

1

Highpoint

Barricade

1

1

Hostage - Prisoner

1

1

1

WAH - External

1

1

Hostage - Staff

1

Hindley

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

2

1

Holme House

WAH - Internal

1

2

Humber

Barricade

1

Hostage - Prisoner

1

1

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

2

1

2

1

1

Hostage - Staff

1

Isis

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

2

1

1

1

Isle of Wight

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

2

Lancaster Farms

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

1

1

1

Leeds

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

1

3

1

2

1

1

Leicester

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - External

1

1

WAH - Internal

1

1

Lewes

Concerted Indiscipline

1

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

1

2

1

Lincoln

WAH - External

1

1

WAH - Internal

2

1

1

Lindholme

Barricade

1

1

Concerted Indiscipline

2

WAH - External

1

2

1

1

1

WAH - Internal

1

1

2

1

3

1

1

Littlehey

WAH - Internal

1

1

Liverpool

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

2

1

3

2

1

3

Long Lartin

WAH - Internal

1

Lowdham Grange

Barricade

1

Concerted Indiscipline

WAH - Internal

2

2

4

2

1

3

Maidstone

Barricade

1

Manchester

WAH - Internal

2

1

1

1

Moorland

Hostage - Prisoner

1

1

WAH - External

1

1

WAH - Internal

1

3

1

3

Morton Hal

WAH - External

1

Northumberland

WAH - Internal

1

1

Norwich

Barricade

1

WAH - Internal

2

Nottingham

Barricade

1

Hostage - Prisoner

2

1

1

1

WAH - Internal

2

3

2

1

1

2

4

1

Oakwood

Barricade

1

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

1

2

3

1

2

1

Onley

WAH - Internal

1

Parc

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

1

2

1

Pentonville

WAH - Internal

1

1

2

1

Portland

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

2

1

Ranby

Barricade

2

WAH - Internal

2

2

Risley

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

1

1

2

Rochester

WAH - External

1

1

WAH - Internal

1

Rye Hill

WAH - Internal

1

1

1

1

2

Stocken

Barricade

1

Concerted Indiscipline

WAH - Internal

1

1

Stoke Heath

Barricade

1

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - External

1

1

WAH - Internal

2

1

Styal

WAH - Internal

2

Swaleside

WAH - Internal

1

1

Swansea

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

2

Swinfen Hall

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - External

1

1

WAH - Internal

Thameside

WAH - Internal

1

The Mount

Barricade

1

Hostage - Prisoner

1

1

WAH - External

1

3

3

WAH - Internal

1

1

The Verne

WAH - Internal

1

Wandsworth

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

1

1

1

1

Wayland

Barricade

1

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - External

2

WAH - Internal

2

1

2

Wealstun

Barricade

1

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

1

Werrington

WAH - Internal

1

1

Wetherby

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

1

Whatton

WAH - Internal

1

Whitemoor

WAH - Internal

1

1

Winchester

WAH - External

1

WAH - Internal

2

2

2

Woodhill

WAH - External

1

1

1

WAH - Internal

2

1

Wormwood Scrubs

WAH - Internal

3

1

Wymott

Barricade

1

Hostage - Prisoner

1

WAH - Internal

1

1

3

Grand Total

28

42

59

44

67

57

54

66

(WAH = Working at Height )

Answered by

Ministry of Justice