Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release, Coronavirus preparedness in prisons, published on 6 November 2020, if he will publish details of the changes to make more personal protective equipment available to staff who come into close contact with offenders.

Throughout the pandemic we have made protective equipment available to staff in line with task-specific risk assessments and public health advice.

In addition to task-specific use of PPE, we have increased the availability of face masks to staff to wear as an additional protective measure within prisons. Those measures were implemented last month, mirroring similar changes in public health settings. Our face mask strategy for staff sets out when face masks must be worn in HMPPS settings, in line with public health advice.

There is sufficient supply of PPE and face coverings in place to meet forecast demand. We are keeping this under constant review as we move through each phase of managing the pandemic.

These measures sit alongside all the actions we are taking to collectively contribute to preventing the spread of coronavirus and to protect staff, residents and the public.