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1194389

registered interest
date	11/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners have died of covid-19.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	45180
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is containing the spread of COVID-19 within prisons using an approach known as ‘compartmentalisation’. Through this approach, staff have isolated those with symptoms, and many prisons have been able to shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals.</p><p>The table below details the number of self-reported confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst the prison population broken down by region. The data in this table is correct as of Thursday 7 May.</p><p>However, it should be noted that this is recently collected management information and as yet subject to verification; figures may change at a later date in future statistical publications.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Region</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Confirmed cases</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cumbria &amp; Lancashire; Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire</p></td><td><p>65</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorkshire; Tees and Wear</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North Midlands; West Midlands; East Midlands</p></td><td><p>90</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Avon and South Dorset; South Central; Devon and North Dorset</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk; Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London; Kent, Surrey and Sussex</p></td><td><p>48</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>80</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Long Term and High Security Estate</p></td><td><p>52</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>TOTAL</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>402</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sadly, as of Friday 15 May, 21 prisoners have died having tested positive for COVID-19.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 45184 question first answered 19/05/2020 16:08:40 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1194391

registered interest
date	11/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Service: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison service staff have died of covid-19.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	45181
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>Our prison staff are hidden heroes and I applaud their bravery and resolute commitment to public service.</p><p> </p><p>We are working hard to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the prison system as part of the national plan to protect the NHS and save lives. In our prisons and in the community, we are implementing a range of measures to reduce the spread of the transmission of the virus and the numbers of lives sadly lost.</p><p> </p><p>As of 8 May, seven prison staff are confirmed to have died having tested positive for COVID-19.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 19/05/2020 15:25:59 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1194392

registered interest
date	11/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Service and Prisoners: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prison service staff and (b) prisoners have had a test for covid-19.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	45182
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>NHS England and Improvement is solely responsible for testing for COVID-19 both in the community and in secure settings. As such, we do not hold data on staff and prisoner testing.</p><p> </p><p>On 24 April, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced the rollout of COVID-19 testing for all essential workers and symptomatic members of their household, including prison staff, those working in Approved Premises (APs) and probation staff (including private sector service providers) in England. We have referred over 3,000 HMPPS staff for testing to date.</p><p> </p><p>In Wales, testing for prison, AP and probation staff and symptomatic members of their household is being delivered through local resilience forum arrangements and through local health boards.</p><p> </p><p>For prisoners, tests will be conducted on symptomatic individuals on site. The testing capacity and availability can vary between establishments, depending on local circumstances at the time.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 19/05/2020 12:17:19 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1194394

registered interest
date	11/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether personal protective equipment is being provided to all prison workers during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	45183
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to maintaining social distancing to protect staff and those in our care from COVID-19.</p><p> </p><p>In situations where social distancing is not possible, safe operating procedures have been developed in line with public health advice. These identify the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) items required in each situation and how they should be used.</p><p> </p><p>Further information about how we are protecting staff and prisoners during this time can be found in the following publication:</p><p> </p><p>https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/882622/covid-19-population-management-strategy-prisons.pdf</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 19/05/2020 12:17:47 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1194395

registered interest
date	11/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many confirmed cases of covid-19 there are in the UK’s prison population by region as at 7 May 2020.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	45184
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is containing the spread of COVID-19 within prisons using an approach known as ‘compartmentalisation’. Through this approach, staff have isolated those with symptoms, and many prisons have been able to shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals.</p><p>The table below details the number of self-reported confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst the prison population broken down by region. The data in this table is correct as of Thursday 7 May.</p><p>However, it should be noted that this is recently collected management information and as yet subject to verification; figures may change at a later date in future statistical publications.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Region</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Confirmed cases</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cumbria &amp; Lancashire; Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire</p></td><td><p>65</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorkshire; Tees and Wear</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North Midlands; West Midlands; East Midlands</p></td><td><p>90</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Avon and South Dorset; South Central; Devon and North Dorset</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk; Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London; Kent, Surrey and Sussex</p></td><td><p>48</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>80</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Long Term and High Security Estate</p></td><td><p>52</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>TOTAL</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>402</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sadly, as of Friday 15 May, 21 prisoners have died having tested positive for COVID-19.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 45180 question first answered 19/05/2020 16:08:40 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1194396

registered interest
date	11/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the vulnerability of the prison population to covid-19 taking into account factors such as (a) age, (b) pre-existing health conditions and (c) access to healthcare; and what steps his Department has taken to mitigate that risk.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	45185
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>HMPPS continues to work very closely with Public Health England (PHE), Public Health Wales (PHW) and the NHS to consider the vulnerability of the prison population to the potential impact of COVID-19. Factors considered include the age profile and prevalence of existing medical conditions across the population.</p><p> </p><p>In view of this, in line with PHE guidance, we are implementing a strategy of compartmentalisation in prisons: isolating the symptomatic, shielding the vulnerable (including the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions) and quarantining new arrivals in reverse cohorting units. Modelling by PHE suggests this strategy and has shown early signs of success in limiting deaths and the transmission of the COVID-19 within the estate.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 19/05/2020 16:39:44 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1194562

registered interest
date	11/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Sexual Offences
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sexual assaults were committed on the prison estate by male-born prisoners who identify as women in the most recent period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	45149
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>Between 1 January and 31 December 2019, amongst the transgender people in custody who were born, and remain, legally male but self-identified as female there was the following involvement in sexual assaults:</p><ul><li>There was 1 sexual assault where someone who identified in this way was recorded as the assailant or suspected assailant;</li><li>There was 1 sexual assault where someone who identified in this way was recorded as a ‘fighter’ i.e. assault incidents in which there is no clear aggressor or victim; and</li><li>There were 11 sexual assaults where someone who identified in this way was recorded as the victim of the sexual assault.</li></ul><p>All of these assaults occurred in the male estate. All sexual assaults in prison are referred to the police and HMPPS have strong safeguards in place to manage risks to all those in custody, regardless of their gender.</p><p>HMPPS has robust processes in place to care for and manage transgender individuals in custody. The safety of all those in our care is of paramount importance. All known risks, both towards or presented by a transgender person in prison, will always be taken into account in their care and management. Individuals will be cared for and managed in the gender with which they identify, regardless of their location in a male or female prison.</p><p>An article in the Mail on Sunday on 10 May stated that the seven sexual assaults carried out by transgender prisoners between 2010 and 2018 in the women’s prison estate were by ‘trans women’ i.e. individuals who were born legally male but self-identified as female. This could not have been assumed from the data provided in response to that enquiry which covered the general definition of transgender, which includes not just those who were born male, but also, for example, those born as female who now identify as men, non-binary and intersex people.</p><p>Details of transgender prisoners were provided by public and private prisons in England and Wales, between 26 March 2019 and 24 April 2019 following an exercise to gather information from transgender individuals in custody. The figures give an estimate of the number of transgender prisoners based on that exercise and may underestimate the true number. Prisoners who have a full Gender Recognition Certificate are excluded from this dataset. Details of individuals who were identified within that dataset as having been born, and who remain, legally male but self-identified as female have been matched to the Incident Reporting System to provide the details of assaults in this response.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 19/05/2020 15:24:08 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1194721

registered interest
date	11/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department has issued to HMRC on the treatment of probate applications that are unable to be submitted within the statutory six month period as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Tonbridge and Malling
tabling member printed	Tom Tugendhat
uin	45304
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>There are no statutory deadlines for making probate applications, therefore the Department has issued no guidance to HMRC as it would not be appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>Completing inheritance tax assessment and payment is a necessary part of the process for applying for probate. While HMRC determine the policy on deadlines for inheritance tax calculation and payment in line with that legal framework, they will consider it to be within the scope of a reasonable excuse and grounds for appeal against any late filing penalties should a customer be unable to file their Inheritance tax return on time because of impacts from COVID-19.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 19/05/2020 13:47:03 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4462 label Biography information for Tom Tugendhat

1194734

registered interest
date	11/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) directly and (b) non-directly employed HMCTS staff are currently (i) working from home, (ii) furloughed or (iii) attending the workplace, by grade; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Tottenham
tabling member printed	Mr David Lammy
uin	44950
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>Our workforce is working in exceptional circumstances to keep the justice system running. We are committed to supporting our key worker staff by enabling them to work from home, work flexible hours or maintain social distancing in a physical location.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS has 18,973 staff (including permanent, Fixed Term Contract and Agency and Contractors) of which, as at 13 May 2020 a) the number of directly employed staff in HMCTS who are furloughed is Zero (i) 5293 staff (28%) are working from home (ii) 8303 staff (43%) are attending the workplace.</p><p> </p><p>The number of non-directly employed agency HMCTS staff as at 30 Apr 2020 is 2383 of which 753 agency workers are currently fully/part furloughed. There are 495 agency workers who are fully furloughed. Therefore, of the overall agency headcount we have 38.3% of the overall agency headcount either fully/part furloughed and the fully furloughed equates to 20.77% of the overall agency headcount are furloughed.</p><p> </p><p>We do not distinguish between our agency and directly employed staff in our data collection so the agency figures for working from home and attending the workplace are included in the overall figures provided above</p><p> </p><p>We have also provided a breakdown of staff working from home by grade, however, we are not able to provide the same breakdown by grade for those attending the workplace. This is because our data collection is by exception rather than on all staff; i.e. we record the details of staff who fall into specific categories of work such as working from home or absence and then calculate the number attending the workplace by deducting all of the various work and absence categories from our overall headcount figure. Please note that all data provided is administrative data.</p><p><strong> Admin Data - Working from Home by Grade as at 13 May 2020</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Row Labels</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Working from Home Headcount</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>% of total Working From Home</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>SCS</p></td><td><p>62</p></td><td><p>1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Band A</p></td><td><p>434</p></td><td><p>8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Band B</p></td><td><p>886</p></td><td><p>17%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Band C (&amp; Fast Streamers)</p></td><td><p>593</p></td><td><p>11%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Band D</p></td><td><p>983</p></td><td><p>19%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Band E</p></td><td><p>1569</p></td><td><p>30%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Band F</p></td><td><p>45</p></td><td><p>1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not known</p></td><td><p>250</p></td><td><p>5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Contractors</p></td><td><p>471</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>5293</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Epsom and Ewell answering member printed Chris Grayling question first answered 19/05/2020 13:48:21 answering member 1413 label Biography information for Chris Grayling
tabling member	206 label Biography information for Mr David Lammy

1194736

registered interest
date	11/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Ministry of Justice: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) directly and (b) non-directly employed staff in his Department are currently (i) working from home, (ii) furloughed or (iii) attending the workplace, by grade; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Tottenham
tabling member printed	Mr David Lammy
uin	44952
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is made up of HMCTS, HMPPS, an HQ, executive agencies and departmental ALBs. The figures below show all civil servants in this category excluding HMCTS and HMPPS. The majority of staff are working from home (approximated to 100%, as per the table below). A small number go into offices where there is a business need or because of personal circumstances, however this figure changes day-by-day. None have been furloughed.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong>MOJ (excluding HMPPS and HMCTS) payroll staff as at 30th April 2020</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Senior Civil Servant</p></td><td><p>167</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>G7/G6</p></td><td><p>1,355</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>SEO</p></td><td><p>1,483</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HEO (inc Fast Streamers)</p></td><td><p>1,361</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>EO</p></td><td><p>1,537</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>AO</p></td><td><p>1,692</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>AA</p></td><td><p>87</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not Known</p></td><td><p>39</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>7,721</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The figures below show non-payroll staff, who are non-directly employed. These include agency staff, interim managers, specialist contractors and consultants. The majority of staff are working from home (approximated to 100%, as per the table below). A small number go into offices where there is a business need or because of personal circumstances, however this figure changes day-by-day. None have been furloughed.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong>MOJ (excluding HMPPS and HMCTS) non-payroll staff as at 31st March 2020</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Non-payroll staff</p></td><td><p>371</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Non-payroll staff are not assigned to civil service grades, so the total is provided only.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 19/05/2020 13:43:59 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	206 label Biography information for Mr David Lammy