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1198772

registered interest
date	28/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Criminal Legal Aid Review
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the recommendations of the Law Society's submission to Criminal Legal Aid Review, published in February 2020.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
uin	52555
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2020 answer text <p>In order to focus on the most pressing issues for practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic we agreed to temporarily pause our work on the Criminal Legal Aid Review in order to focus on short term sustainability issues. We will return to the review, which has a wider focus on long term sustainability of the criminal legal aid market as quickly as we can, while doing all we can to mitigate the current crisis and support justice recovery.</p><p> </p><p>On 28 February 2020, as part of the review, we launched a consultation on policy proposals for the “Criminal legal Aid Review - An accelerated package of measures amending the criminal legal aid fee schemes”. This consultation remains open and we continue to engage with various stakeholder and representative bodies and value the contributions being made. Once the consultation closes, the Government will publish its response after carefully considering the issues raised by the Law Society and others who respond to the consultation.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 09/06/2020 18:00:36 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1197854

registered interest
date	21/05/2020
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of COVID-19 for operational capacity within the (1) male, and (2) female, prison estates.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL4819
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>We will always have enough capacity to accommodate those committed to custody by the courts. As of 29 May, we have reduced useable operational capacity by around 2,600 places in order to ensure prisons can implement a compartmentalisation strategy to isolate the symptomatic, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals to reduce risk. Further reductions in useable capacity will depend on further population reductions and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.</p><p> </p><p>In March, temporary restrictions were put in place to minimise movements between jails and reduce face-to-face probation meetings to avoid thousands of prisoners and staff becoming infected with COVID-19. Since then, strong further measures have been implemented, including the early release of low-risk offenders, temporary expansion of the prison estate, and work to reduce the number of those held on remand. These measures have helped to contain the spread of the virus so far and limit deaths.</p><p> </p><p>This action has helped to reduce the prison population, allowing jails to implement ‘compartmentalisation’.</p><p> </p><p>Inter-prison transfers are currently limited, however, as normal measures return across the estate, we will be able to undertake routine inter-prison transfers safely.</p><p> </p><p>The baseline certified normal accommodation (CNA) of the prison estate will not change over the next 12 months (as there are no plans to open new prison places or permanently close any prisons). However, in-use CNA and operational capacity will fluctuate over the next 12 months as places come in and out of use for a range of reasons at selected prisons (mainly as a result of large-scale maintenance projects and/or as part of our response to managing the Covid-19 pandemic).</p><p> </p><p>The number of prisoners held in shared accommodation over the next 12 months will be based on the size of the current and the projected prison population. As at 1 May, 36% of the prison population are sharing cells holding two or more people.</p><p> </p><p>To mitigate the spread of infection in the existing estate, we have been creating space in prisons to remove and reduce cell sharing, provide access to in-cell sanitation, and protect the sick and shield the vulnerable.</p><p> </p><p>Over 850 temporary cells have already been delivered to 25 prisons and 217 are in use. We continue to deliver and install these units to provide single occupancy cells at priority sites to support the successful compartmentalisation of prisoners to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We have also opened an Annex at HMP/YOI Rochester to hold up to 70 men.</p><p> </p><p>Extra headroom is being created as a result of population falls and our support for early release schemes and expediting of remand cases.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL4754 HL4755 HL4756 question first answered 04/06/2020 16:58:27 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1197855

registered interest
date	21/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the number of releases from prison over the next 12 months of the Parole Board’s decision to postpone face-to-face hearings due to COVID-19.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL4820
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2020 answer text <p>The Parole Board take a detailed and sophisticated approach to assessing whether the statutory release test, set by Parliament, is met to ensure the protection of the public. In the temporary absence of face-to-face hearings, the Board has introduced measures to ensure as many parole hearings continue through the use of an intensive paper review process and by telephone and video technology to determine whether it is safe for the protection of the public for an offender to be released. Through these measures, the Board reports it is successfully managing to progress and make decisions without compromising the quality or integrity of the risk assessment process. If that is sustained, the Board does not envisage any significant impact on the number of release decisions it makes.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 05/06/2020 10:16:15 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1197858

registered interest
date	21/05/2020
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners have been tested for COVID-19 (1) in each of the last five weeks, and (2) in total up to 20 May.
tabling member printed	Lord German
uin	HL4823
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2020 answer text <p>NHS England and Improvement is responsible for commissioning healthcare in prisons and are, therefore, responsible for testing for Covid-19. As such, we do not hold this data on prisoner testing.</p><p>Covid-19 testing is ongoing in prisons and is being conducted by internal or external healthcare practitioners on symptomatic prisoners on site. The testing capacity is dependent on local commissioning services, therefore the numbers of those tested varies by establishment. Prisoners that require hospital care are being transferred to hospital and may also be tested there.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 05/06/2020 13:44:07 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4163 label Biography information for Lord German

1197883

registered interest
date	21/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Reading Prison: Change of Use
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review their decision to reject Reading Council’s bid to convert HM Prison Reading into an art centre; and what consideration they gave to the preservation of the building as an arts venue.
tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
uin	HL4848
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2020 answer text <p>Marketing of the former prison at Reading has completed and a preferred bidder selected. We have no plans to review our decision not to progress with any of the other bids for the site. A range of factors were considered in assessing which bid represented the best value for the department and the taxpayer.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 05/06/2020 13:53:16 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

1197476

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
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 steps he has taken to protect (a) prison staff and (b) prisoners who are unable to socially distance.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	49628
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2020 answer text <p>Social distancing has been used in prisons since 24 March through the implementation of a restricted regime and is promoted through regular communications.</p><p>Situations where social distancing is not possible are controlled through safe operating procedures developed in line with public health advice. Safe operating procedures identify the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) items required in each situation and the method of use. There is currently adequate stock and forward supply of all PPE items in accordance with public health advice.</p><p>Basic hygiene is also a key part of tackling the virus and hand-washing facilities are available to all prisoners and staff, and we have worked closely with suppliers to ensure adequate supply of soap and other cleaning materials.</p><p>These measures form part of our comprehensive approach to supporting the health and safety of our staff and prisoners in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, also encompassing our compartmentalisation strategy for prisoners to protect the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals as well as boost the resilience of staffing at the frontline and roll-out of further testing.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 49629 question first answered 02/06/2020 16:50:11 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1197477

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
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 steps his Department has taken to protect the health and safety of prison staff during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	49629
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2020 answer text <p>Social distancing has been used in prisons since 24 March through the implementation of a restricted regime and is promoted through regular communications.</p><p>Situations where social distancing is not possible are controlled through safe operating procedures developed in line with public health advice. Safe operating procedures identify the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) items required in each situation and the method of use. There is currently adequate stock and forward supply of all PPE items in accordance with public health advice.</p><p>Basic hygiene is also a key part of tackling the virus and hand-washing facilities are available to all prisoners and staff, and we have worked closely with suppliers to ensure adequate supply of soap and other cleaning materials.</p><p>These measures form part of our comprehensive approach to supporting the health and safety of our staff and prisoners in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, also encompassing our compartmentalisation strategy for prisoners to protect the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals as well as boost the resilience of staffing at the frontline and roll-out of further testing.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 49628 question first answered 02/06/2020 16:50:11 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1197539

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Reoffenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 May 2020 to Question 45068 on Prisoners: Home Detention Curfew, if he will breakdown the (a) violence against the person, (b) theft, (c) drug and (d) miscellaneous crimes against society offence groups into the number of each of the individual offences in that group for each year.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	49621
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2020 answer text <p>The information requested in your first question can be found in the table attached.</p><p>The information requested in your second question could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p>Release on HDC is subject to a risk assessment to ensure that there is a plan in place to manage offenders safely. It is only available for certain offenders who receive sentences of less than four years. If offenders breach their curfew, or any other conditions of their licence, they can be recalled to prison.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 49623 question first answered 02/06/2020 16:48:56 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer attachment 1 file name PQ 49621_final.xlsx title Table 1
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1197540

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using recently closed courts such as Camberwell Green Magistrates Court to help increase capacity that will be needed in the future as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	49622
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2020 answer text <p>The former Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court building was sold and ownership transferred to the purchaser on 24 April 2020.</p><p>HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service officials are considering whether any recently closed courts which are still owned by HMCTS are suitable for reopening to provide increased capacity.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 02/06/2020 15:54:07 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1197541

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Reoffenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offences were committed by offenders on home detention curfew after being released before the halfway point in their sentences in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	49623
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2020 answer text <p>The information requested in your first question can be found in the table attached.</p><p>The information requested in your second question could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p>Release on HDC is subject to a risk assessment to ensure that there is a plan in place to manage offenders safely. It is only available for certain offenders who receive sentences of less than four years. If offenders breach their curfew, or any other conditions of their licence, they can be recalled to prison.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 49621 question first answered 02/06/2020 16:48:56 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer attachment 1 file name PQ 49621_final.xlsx title Table 1
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies