Sky Report...The NOM's scale of staff corruption

The request was refused by Ministry of Justice.

Dear Ministry of Justice,

This request has been prompted entirely by the Sky News report of today which suggested inter alia that a significant percentage of NOM's staff are corrupt.

I have researched various open sources, incl. Hansard and the MoJ's own web-site; from these I note that: -

In answers to earlier parliamentary questions, NOMS has stated that it gathers intelligence about staff corruption which it analyses to identify the nature and guise of the threat.

Research suggests NOMS commenced this work in 2007 and it is undertaken as part of an on-going process by the Professional Standards Unit.

Q.1 I wish to know in the year 1st January 2009 to 31st December 2009 how many NOMS staff were the subject of intelligence reports that they were corrupt and what, in percentage terms, was the nature and guise of that corruption.

I want to emphasise that I am not asking for any personal data, or to know at which prisons the corruption is highest, but simply a number and its percentage breakdown by corruption category.

i.e. In 2009 NOMS PSU received intelligence to suggest seventy two staff were corrupt and of these 35% were suspected to be trafficking drugs, 25% bringing in phones and 40% assisting prisoners to escape.

Parliament has been informed this work has been undertaken, I now merely seek the results which my enquiries would suggest, because of a change of government, have never been addressed.

I will not accept any response that suggests this information is sensitive or confidential....for it's publication can only prove or disprove the Sky journalist's assumption that the Prison Service is beset with staff corruption.

As I am sure you are aware, non-disclosure cannot be justified because publishing the answer would "shame" the holder.

Q.2 In 2000, Prof Tim Newburn was commissioned by the Minister for Prisons to report on Prison Staff corruption, what were the principal findings of his report?

Yours faithfully,

John Smith

Over, Darren \(ARU\), Ministry of Justice

Freedom of Information Request FOI/68286/10

Data Access & Compliance Unit
Information Directorate
Zone 6 B
Post point 6.25
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

T 020 3334 3237
F 020 3334 2245
E [email address]

www.justice.gov.uk

07-DEC-10 Our Ref:FOI/68286/10

Dear John Smith,

SUBJECT: Freedom of Information Request

Thank you for your correspondence of December 6, 2010, in which you
asked for information about Staff Corruption in NOMS under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

You will receive a response from us by January 5, 2011. Your request has
been passed to the appropriate business unit within the MoJ, and they
will write to you with their decision by this date.

The FOIA does provide a number of exemptions. A qualified exemption
requires that before relying on it we must consider the public interest
test. If the information you have requested is covered by a qualified
exemption(s) under FOIA, the Department is allowed to take longer than
20 working days to respond. This is because in such circumstances we are
required to consider the public interest issues when deciding whether or
not to disclose the information requested.

If more time is needed to consider the public interest issues under a
qualified exemption(s), we will write to you and inform you of the
revised date you can expect to receive a response to your request.

If you have any queries regarding this request please do not hesitate to
contact us. Please quote ref: FOI/68286/10 in all future correspondence.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Over
(Sent on behalf of Michael Evans)
Data Access and Compliance Unit

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Noakes, Joanne [NOMS],

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Smith,

Please find attached the response to your request for information.

<<FOI 68286-John Smith-Staff Corruption in NOMS.doc>>

Regards,

Joanne Noakes
Strategic Intelligence Manager
Corruption Prevention Unit

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