Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the effect on (a) the maintenance of family ties and (b) the rights and welfare of children who have a parent in custody of virtual visits software in custodial facilities when used by young children.

Video calls were introduced as an emergency measure alongside other measures to help maintain family contact whilst physical visits were suspended because of the COVID-19 outbreak. We continue to learn lessons from this to inform both the current service and longer-term planning in line with the recommendations of Lord Farmer’s review for maintaining family ties.

The secure video calls currently operate alongside, not as a replacement for, social visits which started to be reintroduced in July in line with the COVID-19 National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services and following assessments that ensure establishments can operate visits in a COVID-secure manner. There are no restrictions on the age of children who can attend physical visits as long as they are accompanied by an adult.

Secure video calls provide another option for families, including those with children of all ages, to stay in touch and are being offered at no cost to families at the current time.