Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on private prisons of the adequacy of covid-19 sick pay policies implemented by G4S in private prisons.

Whilst they may mirror those set by HMPPS in public sector prisons, all staffing matters in privately managed prisons, including sick pay and related policies, are the responsibility of individual contractors. There is no requirement in the contracts to agree such matters with the Ministry of Justice.

Private providers play an important role in the prison estate and we continue to monitor them to ensure they maintain safe, decent and secure prisons.