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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

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

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

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

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

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

1227862

registered interest
date	23/07/2020
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Forced Marriage: Prosecutions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prosecutions were initiated in relation to forced marriage in (1) 2014, (2) 2015, (3) 2016, (4) 2017, (5) 2018, and (5) 2019; and how many such prosecutions were successful in each year.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
uin	HL7247
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/08/2020 answer text <p>From 2014 to date, CPS data for the number of cases prosecuted and the outcomes is:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2014-2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015-2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016-2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-2018</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018-2019</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019-2020</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Convictions</p></td><td><p>29</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>37</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Non-Convictions</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p><strong>46</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>53</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>44</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>50</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>8</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Between 2014 – 15 and 2017 – 18, this data included cases that included the forced marriage flag on the CPS’s case management system as well as cases charged as forced marriage. In 2018 – 19, the CPS conducted quality assurance checks on the guidance for applying the forced marriage flag. The data for that year does not include flagged cases but only cases charged as a forced marriage offence. The most recent data (2019 – 20) includes flagged cases but reflects the updated guidance on applying the flag which has resulted in improved accuracy.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 03/08/2020 13:26:48 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

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

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

1227700

registered interest
date	22/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Older People
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government by how much the prison population of England and Wales would decrease if prisoners (1) over 65 years old, (2) over 70 years old, and (3) over 75 years old, were released.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL7149
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>Based on prison population data as at 30 June 2020, the prison population of England and Wales includes (1) 2,660 prisoners over 65 years old, (2) of whom 1,497 prisoners are over 70 years, and (3) 671 prisoners are over 75 years old.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 14:49:25 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton