To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral evidence of 26 June 2018 by the Minister of State of his Department to the Justice Committee on Prison Population 2022: planning for the future, Question 81, what the target number of key workers is for each prison establishment to enable each of those establishments to deliver the key worker system.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral evidence of 26 June 2018 by the Minister of State of his Department to the Justice Committee on Prison Population 2022: planning for the future, Question 81, when HM Prison and Probation Service plans to complete the roll-out of the key worker scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral evidence of 26 June 2018 by the Minister of State of his Department to the Justice Committee on Prison Population 2022: planning for the future, Question 81, whether key worker contact for at least 45 minutes a week is the target throughout the (a) female, (b) young offender and (c) open prison estate.

The introduction of key worker activity will be undertaken by Band 3 Prison Officers. As all residential officers will be key workers, there are no ‘target numbers’. Each officer will be looking after a case load of around six individuals. In the closed male estate, including young offender institutions, key workers will meet regularly (on average 45 minutes per prisoner, per week) and provide supportive challenge to prisoners, to motivate them to use their time in custody to best effect.

The introduction of the key worker element of the model is being managed centrally, to allow for recruitment and training to be coordinated at a national level. Roll-out is under way with 72 prisons who have commenced delivery of key work and 18 being fully rolled out at the end of October 2018. The project to manage the implementation of the new model, both key work and case management, is now in its final phase. It is due to conclude in December 2019.

A version of the new model has been developed for the women’s estate. It takes in to account the specific needs of women in custody with a much stronger link between complexity of need and the resources applied to each case.

There are no current plans to implement key work in the open estate. Open prisons focus on the testing and reintegration of prisoners back into their communities with increased opportunities for temporary release (on licence) to undertake work, training and engage with services in their communities as well as their families and significant others.