Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the rate of COVID-19-related deaths in prison; and how any such steps are designed (1) to reduce the level, and (2) to mitigate the impact, of COVID-19 infections amongst women in prison.

The safety of our staff and those under our supervision remains a top priority. We have taken quick and decisive action – backed by Public Health England and Wales – to limit the spread of the virus across all prison establishments, including the women’s estate.

Our measures have included restricting regimes, minimising inter-prison transfers and compartmentalising our prisons into different units to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals. A comprehensive testing regime of staff weekly and prisoners on reception and transfer is in place and is key in helping to prevent the spread of the virus. Our experience and evidence gathering provides an indication that these measures have had a positive impact on limiting deaths and the transmission of the virus in prisons. Whilst every death is a tragedy, taking decisive action has meant that the number of deaths we have seen in prisons is significantly lower than approximately 2,700 prisoner’s deaths Public Health England modelled last spring if there were no changes to regimes or counter measures out in place in prisons. We are now working closely with the NHS to support the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccinations for eligible groups in custody in line with those receiving in the community.

Due to the current risk level posed by Covid-19, all adult prisons are currently operating a Stage Four regime, as outlined in our National Framework (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-national-framework-for-prison-regimes-and-services). This involves restrictions to reduce contact between people and therefore reduce the chance of transmission. We are keeping the level of restriction necessary under close review. We must continue to respond in a measured way in line with public health advice to ensure our approach is proportionate and legitimate, as we have done throughout.

A women’s self-harm taskforce has been set up to coordinate and drive forward work aimed at reducing levels of self-harm in the women’s estate which includes the introduction of wellbeing checks for women during Covid-19 restrictions.

Additional training focused on female-specific issues has been deployed for prison officers entering the service, to provide new officers with better understanding of women prison residents. As women make a minority of the prison estate, tailored training for officers working with this group will ensure that officers can be more responsive to their needs.