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1230924

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Keen of Elie on 16 July (HL Deb, col 1746), what additional progress they have made towards implementing the recommendations of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody.
	tabling member printed	Lord Ramsbotham
	uin	HL7699
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2020 answer text <p>The Department has continued to take steps to implement the recommendations made in this report, as well as others made by independent experts and scrutiny bodies, as part of its robust response to protect prisoners and prison staff from COVID-19.</p><p>Progress has been reflected in the development of Exceptional Delivery Models which cover areas such as social visits, education and time in the open air. This forms an integral part of the National Framework for Prison Regime and Services Recovery which is currently being implemented.</p><p>The recommendations made by the report note the importance of clear communication and ensuring that prisoners feel supported and listened to. The majority of establishments have now resumed social visits which are vital for maintaining family contact and prisoners’ wellbeing. As we move to Stage 2 of the National Framework, prison governors will have more autonomy to shape their regimes in a way that responds to local dynamics and continues to keep staff and prisoners safe from COVID-19.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 16/09/2020 12:45:06 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	3744 label Biography information for Lord Ramsbotham

1231978

	registered interest
	date	07/09/2020
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what provisions have been made in Her Majesty’s Prisons for visiting rights for prisoners since the introduction of restrictions to address the COVID-19 pandemic; how many (1) visits, and (2) visitors, are permitted for each category of prisoner each week; and what special protective measures have been introduced for (1) visitors, and (2) prisoners, to ensure their protection against COVID-19.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL7840
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2020 answer text <p>We fully recognise the importance of family contact for those in custody in line with the recommendations of Lord Farmer’s Reviews. This is why following the necessary suspension of prison visits in March, to keep prisoners, their families and staff safe during the pandemic, we introduced a range of measures. We rolled-out more than 1,200 secure mobile PIN phone handsets which are being used to contact family and friends, bolstered support for the Prisoner’s Families Helpline and introduced secure video calls which are currently operating in over 100 prisons across England and Wales, including all female and youth establishments.</p><p>We published arrangements for the recommencement of face-to-face social visits in the National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services, and visits recommenced in early July, in an adapted, Covid-secure manner. Currently most prisons have now commenced physical visits.</p><p>Currently, up to two adults and two children are permitted to visit for a minimum of 45 minutes in prisons where it is safe to do so. Guidance on visits protocols for each prison, including steps we are taking to keep visitors safe, is published on <a href="http://gov.uk/" target="_blank">GOV.UK</a> at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/visit-someone-in-prison-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/visit-someone-in-prison-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic</a></p><p>This sets out differences in the adult and youth estates but otherwise this applies for visits to all categories of prisoner. We aim to continue to expand visit arrangements as part of further relaxations to prison regimes, as it is safe to do so, and in line with public health advice.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 15/09/2020 16:27:57 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1228277

	registered interest
	date	29/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Offenders: Females
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when they estimate the Female Offender Strategy will be fully implemented.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Gloucester
	uin	HL7520
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/08/2020 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy (2018) set out our vision to see fewer women entering the justice system and reoffending; fewer women in custody, particularly on short custodial sentences, with more managed successfully in the community; and a custodial environment that enables rehabilitation. The strategy launched an ambitious programme of work to improve outcomes for female offenders and make society safer by tackling the underlying causes of offending and reoffending. This will take several years to deliver, with our planned pilot of a residential women’s centre in at least five sites in England and Wales likely to last until the latter part of this decade.</p><p>Some two years on from publication of the Strategy we are making good progress. We have already invested £5.1 million Strategy funding in 30 different women’s services across England and Wales, helping to sustain and enhance existing services, fill gaps in provision, and provide properties for new women’s centres. Other achievements include publication of a new Women’s Policy Framework; roll-out of new training for staff working with women in custody and the community; improvements to the preparation of pre-sentence reports; publication and ongoing implementation of the recommendations in Lord Farmer’s review into family ties for female offenders; undertaken a review of police forces’ responses to our guidance on working with vulnerable women; piloting a new offender management model for women under supervision in the community; commissioning research to inform our policy on BAME female offenders; and publication of our review of the operational policy on Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Units, and Mothers separated from children under the age of 2 in prison.</p><p>On 5 May 2020, we announced the investment of a further £2.5m in women’s community services in England and Wales in 2020/21, supporting them to tackle the root causes of offending and help women to turn their lives around. We also announced that the first site of our residential women’s centre pilot will be located in Wales. This will provide accommodation for vulnerable women with complex needs who would otherwise be sentenced to custody, enabling them to stay closer to home and maintain important family ties, and will directly tackle the issues which often underlie offending, like substance misuse and mental health. We will now work with Welsh Government and partners in Wales to identify a provider and site.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 07/08/2020 12:18:09 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	4540 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Gloucester

1227979

	registered interest
	date	27/07/2020
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how many prison staff have been tested for COVID-19; and (2) how many prisoners in all prisons have been tested for COVID-19.
	tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
	uin	HL7333
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/08/2020 answer text <p>A testing programme is being conducted to help understand the spread of Coronavirus in prisons and how it is transmitted within individual establishments and across the wider estate began on Monday 20 July.</p><p><br>The testing study is taking place across 28 prisons in England and is being carried out in collaboration with the University of Southampton, Public Health England, Department of Health and Social Care and National Audit Office.</p><p><br>Every one of the 20,000 prisoners and 10,000 staff at the 28 sites will be invited to carry out an antigen test, consisting of mouth and nose swabs, to see if they currently have the virus. Participation is completely voluntary but we encourage as many as possible to carry out the test. The test will be repeated two more times with a gap of three weeks between each test.</p><p><br>This testing study follows a pilot of voluntary testing of both staff and prisoners at HMP Littlehey. This consisted of over 1,000 tests being undertaken and pleasingly no positive results were found.</p><p><br>This testing study runs for 9 to 12 weeks to allow all three testing rounds to be completed.</p><p><br>Currently, the establishments which have started undertaking this COVID-19 prevalence Testing Programme are: Bure, Coldingley, Drake Hall, Frankland, Gartree, High Down, Leeds, Lewes, New Hall, Norwich, Send, The Mount, Wandsworth and Wealstun.</p><p><br>As of 5pm 30th July 2020, there have been 2542 prisoner tests with four positive results. There have been 1571 staff tests with three positive results.</p><p>With HMPPS staff being able to self-refer for testing the complete number of staff who have been tested for COVID-19 is unknown by HMPPS. While the total number of tests carried out on prisoners since testing began is also unknown, the Ministry of Justice has started publishing a weekly release of Covid-19 related statistics, which includes confirmed COVID-19 cases in prisoners and children in custody. These statistics provide total numbers across England and Wales.</p><p>The statistics release can be found here each Friday: <br>https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-covid-19-statistics</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 06/08/2020 14:41:26 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

1227978

	registered interest
	date	27/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many adjudications related to incidences of violence against prison staff there were in each year since 2014; and how many of those incidences resulted in additional days being added to a prisoner's sentence.
	tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
	uin	HL7332
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/08/2020 answer text <p>The prisoner discipline system upholds justice in prisons and ensures incidents of prison rule-breaking have consequences. Only Independent Adjudicators, who are District Judges or Deputy District Judges, can make an award of additional days to a prisoner’s custodial time left to serve.</p><p>Where an act of violence amounts to a criminal offence, prisoners should be investigated by the police and face serious sanctions. The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 has increased sentencing powers for offences of common assault and battery committed against an emergency worker. This provides Courts with the powers to punish those who commit violent crime against prison staff.</p><p>The information requested can be found in the table attached.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 06/08/2020 14:16:21 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie attachment 1 file name Data for PQ HL7332-FOR PUBLICATION.XLSX title Excel Spreadsheet
	tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

1227976

	registered interest
	date	27/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners: Veterans
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many armed forces veterans are currently serving a custodial sentence.
	tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
	uin	HL7330
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/08/2020 answer text <p>Since January 2015, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has actively been recording service in the Armed Forces as part of the screening process for newly received prisoners into custody.</p><p>A breakdown of experimental statistics published in October 2019 indicates that as of 30 June 2019, there were 1,833 prisoners serving a custodial sentence in England and Wales that have declared they have been a member of the armed services.</p><p>The department is due to release the next estimate of the total number of ex-armed services in October 2020 which will include data as of 30 June 2020.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice remains committed to encouraging people in the criminal justice system to declare service in the Armed Forces, as early as possible or at any point whist serving their sentence. This enables them to access the support available, whether that is in custody or the community.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 06/08/2020 14:13:57 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

1227887

	registered interest
	date	23/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Remote Hearings
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service and (2) the judiciary, have evaluated the Video Remand Hearings, Summary and Crown Court trials and Prison to Court Video Links developed by the Video Enabled Justice Programme led by the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner and currently operating in Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey and Sussex; and, if so, whether they have concluded that it is suitable to be rolled out nationally.
	tabling member printed	Lord Wasserman
	uin	HL7251
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/08/2020 answer text <p>The Video Enabled Justice Programme was a Home Office funded initiative and independent of HMCTS and the Judiciary. The Programme was sponsored by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex. Its focus was on video enabled remand hearings and live links for police witnesses. Researchers from the University of Surrey were commissioned by the Police and Crime Commissioner to undertake an evaluation of the Programme.</p><p>The evaluation looked at the new video and digital equipment installed at Medway Magistrates Court and seven custody suites across Kent together with the impact of the digital equipment and the conduct of participants in video enabled and non-video remand hearings.</p><p>The findings were shared with interested parties in the final report published in May 2020. No conclusions were intended to be drawn as to the suitability of scaling the Programme outside of the pilot areas.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 05/08/2020 15:05:56 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	4207 label Biography information for Lord Wasserman

1227864

	registered interest
	date	23/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Wandsworth Prison: Video Conferencing
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the pilot at HMP Wandsworth of the video link booking system developed by the Ministry of Justice to allow both prison and court users to book slots with the Video Conference Centre to minimise the need to interact via telephone or emails has been completed; what lessons have been learned from that pilot to date; and what plans they have to publish any such lessons.
	tabling member printed	Lord Wasserman
	uin	HL7250
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/08/2020 answer text <p>The pilot for the book a video link service (BVLS) went live at HMP Wandsworth and all associated courts on 31 March 2020. It has now completed, and we are gathering data and feedback from users in both prisons and courts. This will be shared with partners and stakeholders in due course. Early indications suggest the BVLS has been positively received. Once the feedback exercise has been completed in the autumn, we will consider rolling out the BVLS at further sites.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 05/08/2020 14:32:07 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	4207 label Biography information for Lord Wasserman

1227145

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2020
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their announcement on 24 March that 900 secure phone handsets were to be provided to prisons to support family contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, how many minutes prisoners have spent on calls to date (1) in total, and (2) in each prison in which such phones have been allocated.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
	uin	HL7081
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>In recognition of the importance of maintaining family ties, since 24 March the Government has rolled out 1297 secure mobile phones across the prison estate in England and Wales. This is in addition to existing wing phones and in-cell telephones. As of the 21 July 2020, 153,918 minutes of calls have taken place from secure mobile PIN phones since 2nd April when this service was deployed.</p><p>We do not routinely record the number of calls that take place over long periods of time, however our most recent data shows that on 21 July, 2803 calls took place across all mobile phones. This equates to 14,783 minutes across the estate. For comparison, 222,889 minutes of calls took place across the non-mobile based PIN network. There has been a 52% increase in calls across pin phone calls from the average call number in February, we do not currently have the equivalent data for just mobile phones.</p><p>We do not record figures for minutes that prisoners have spent on calls by prison across the time period mentioned.. We have access to daily call figures across the entire secure mobile network and also individual prison figures on a given day. We are working with our supplier to identify whether we can report on cumulative figures for individual prisons.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 14:50:06 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1227144

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Solicitors: Video Conferencing
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average delay in terms of weeks before solicitors are able to consult their clients in prison via video link.
	tabling member printed	Lord Wasserman
	uin	HL7121
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 14:49:33 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	4207 label Biography information for Lord Wasserman