Prisoners: Exercise

(asked on 4th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will estimate the number of prisoners who were living under custodial regimes allowing for only (a) 30, (b) 60, (c) 90 and (d) 120 minutes of unlocked time per day in the week commencing 26 October 2020.


Answered by
Lucy Frazer Portrait
Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This question was answered on 10th November 2020

We have had to introduce a number of necessary restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 in prisons and to protect both staff and prisoners, however, we have continued to offer as much time out of cells as possible, with necessary adaptions to manage infection.

On 2 June we published the National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services, setting out how we will operate whilst responding to COVID-19. Supporting this, there is more detailed guidance about the nature of regime activity expected at each Stage, including elements of recreation.

Specifically, we have maintained a requirement in all prisons to provide prisoners with time in the open air. All sites have also set out how they will provide prisoners with time out of cell, and the safe equivalent of association time. Since the beginning of the pandemic, prisons were authorised to use external exercise yards for access to the open air and to deliver external physical education.

The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Reticulating Splines