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1345622

registered interest
date	12/07/2021
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 advice they have received about the level of vaccination required for (1) prisoners, and (2) prison officers, in order to prevent future outbreaks of COVID-19 in prisons.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL1874
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2021 answer text <p>Public Health England advice is that we should aim for the highest possible level of vaccination coverage, and higher coverage will help limit outbreaks. Even with a fully vaccinated population, however, smaller outbreaks could occur, because the vaccine does not offer complete protection. The risk of outbreaks is also influenced by other factors including the local demographics, previous exposure, and community prevalence.</p><p> </p><p>HMPPS strongly encourages all staff and prisoners to have the COVID-19 vaccine. We ask employees to let us know when they have had each dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by recording their vaccine status on our HR system. As the disclosure of their vaccine status is entirely voluntary, it means the self-declaration rates <del class="ministerial">presented below</del> will be lower than the actual number of staff who have been vaccinated.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 27/07/2021 11:38:15 question first ministerially corrected 02/08/2021 12:35:09 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar previous answer version 16971 answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1345623

registered interest
date	12/07/2021
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 how many (1) prisoners, and (2) prison staff, have been offered the COVID-19 vaccine to date; and how many of these have declined.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL1875
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/08/2021 answer text <p>The population of adult prisoners in England as of 09 July 2021 is 73,642. Of those in prison on 09 July, 61,073 had been offered1 a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of those offered, 42,301 have received their first dose (58% of the population), and 18,772 have been offered a first dose but have not yet received one. This may be due to the patient declining the vaccine, or it not being given due to clinical reasons. As of 09 July 2021, 21,476 adult prisoners have had two doses of the vaccine (29% of the population).</p><p>All staff can access the COVID-19 vaccine through the NHS. However, as of 09 July 2021, 169 staff declared on our HR system that they have declined the COVID-19 vaccine.</p><p>The total number of HMPPS staff who have declared that they have received their first COVID-19 vaccination, as at midday 09 July 2021 was 24,122. This is equivalent to approximately 44.4% of total staff numbers.</p><p>The total number of HMPPS Staff who have declared that they have received their second COVID-19 vaccination, as at midday 09 July 2021 was 15,104. This is equivalent to approximately 27.8% of total staff numbers.</p><p>Now that all adults are eligible, HMPPS will be increasing efforts to encourage staff to record their vaccination status.</p><p><em>1. The “offered” figure is calculated on a current population-basis to provide an indicative figure for this request. Actual offers of appointments are not recorded or captured.</em></p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar grouped question UIN HL1876 question first answered 02/08/2021 12:37:39 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1345624

registered interest
date	12/07/2021
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 how many, and what proportion, of (1) prisoners, and (2) prison staff, have received (a) one, and (b) two, COVID-19 vaccinations to date.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL1876
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/08/2021 answer text <p>The population of adult prisoners in England as of 09 July 2021 is 73,642. Of those in prison on 09 July, 61,073 had been offered1 a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of those offered, 42,301 have received their first dose (58% of the population), and 18,772 have been offered a first dose but have not yet received one. This may be due to the patient declining the vaccine, or it not being given due to clinical reasons. As of 09 July 2021, 21,476 adult prisoners have had two doses of the vaccine (29% of the population).</p><p>All staff can access the COVID-19 vaccine through the NHS. However, as of 09 July 2021, 169 staff declared on our HR system that they have declined the COVID-19 vaccine.</p><p>The total number of HMPPS staff who have declared that they have received their first COVID-19 vaccination, as at midday 09 July 2021 was 24,122. This is equivalent to approximately 44.4% of total staff numbers.</p><p>The total number of HMPPS Staff who have declared that they have received their second COVID-19 vaccination, as at midday 09 July 2021 was 15,104. This is equivalent to approximately 27.8% of total staff numbers.</p><p>Now that all adults are eligible, HMPPS will be increasing efforts to encourage staff to record their vaccination status.</p><p><em>1. The “offered” figure is calculated on a current population-basis to provide an indicative figure for this request. Actual offers of appointments are not recorded or captured.</em></p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar grouped question UIN HL1875 question first answered 02/08/2021 12:37:39 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1341512

registered interest
date	28/06/2021
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 the Written Answer by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar on 24 June (HL1005), what proportion of (1) prisoners, and (2) prison officers, have received their COVID-19 vaccinations.
tabling member printed	Lord Lee of Trafford
uin	HL1483
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2021 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service strongly encourages all staff and prisoners to have the Covid-19 vaccine. We ask employees to let us know when they have had each dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by recording their vaccine status on our HR system. As the disclosure of their vaccine status is entirely voluntary, it means the self-declaration rates presented below will be lower than the actual number of staff who have been vaccinated.</p><p> </p><p>The total number of Band 3-5 Prison Officers in Public Sector and Youth Custody Prisons who have declared that they have received their first COVID-19 vaccination, as at midday 25 June 2021, was 6,417. This is equivalent to approximately 28.5% of staff within those roles.</p><p> </p><p>The total number of Band 3-5 Prison Officers in Public Sector and Youth Custody Prisons who have declared that they have received their second COVID-19 vaccination, as at midday 25 June 2021, was 3,407. This is equivalent to approximately 15.2% of staff within those roles.</p><p> </p><p>Now that all adults are eligible, HMPPS will be increasing efforts to encourage staff to record their vaccination status.</p><p> </p><p>For prisoners in England as of 25 June 2021 the total number who had received their first COVID-19 vaccination was 38,895. The total number of adult prisoners who had received their second COVID-19 vaccination was 19,236. These figures represent approximately 54% and 26% of the population of 72,687 prisoners.</p><p> </p><p>Data for prisoner vaccinations has been provided by NHS England who are responsible for the vaccination programme. Please note that figures in relation to prisoner vaccinations change daily due to the level of activity in the vaccination programme across the estate.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 12/07/2021 16:25:39 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	1132 label Biography information for Lord Lee of Trafford

1332178

registered interest
date	10/06/2021
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 how many COVID-19 vaccinations have been given to (1) prisoners, and (2) prison officers; and what effect, if any, the vaccinations are having on isolation periods for prisoners in their cells.
tabling member printed	Lord Lee of Trafford
uin	HL1005
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2021 answer text <p>Data on the number of adult prisoners in England that have received Covid-19 vaccinations, as of week ending 4 June, as well as the number of prison officers in Public Sector and Youth Custody Prisons who have declared that they have received their Covid-19 vaccinations, as at midday 11 June 2021, is provided below.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Staff</em></strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong><em>As of midday 11 June</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Staff who have declared that they have received a first dose</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Staff who have declared that they have received a second dose</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p>5,688</p></td><td><p>2,434</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong><em>Prisoners</em></strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong><em>As of week ending 4 June 2021</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Population who have received a first dose</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Population who have received a second dose</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>England total</strong></p></td><td><p>27,520</p></td><td><p>16,168</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) strongly encourages all staff and prisoners who are eligible and offered the Covid-19 vaccine to be vaccinated as soon as possible. Employees are asked to provide updates onto the HMPPS HR system once they have had each dose of the vaccine. As the disclosure of their vaccine status is voluntary, it means the self-declaration rates presented below will very likely be lower than the actual number of staff who have been vaccinated. This data will help us understand staff vaccination take up and coverage, plan recovery and infection control measures, and inform recovery decisions.</p><p>Data for prisoner vaccinations has been provided by NHS England who are responsible for the vaccination programme. Please note that figures in relation to prisoner vaccinations change daily due to the level of activity in the vaccination programme across the estate and therefore can only be read as a snapshot on the day they were calculated.</p><p>Our <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-national-framework-for-prison-regimes-and-services" target="_blank">National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services</a> sets out how we will take decisions about easing restrictions in prisons. Prisons continue to progress through the Stages of the Framework, and vaccination coverage is an important part of the consideration about the necessary degree of restrictions.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 24/06/2021 16:04:27 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	1132 label Biography information for Lord Lee of Trafford

1316947

registered interest
date	20/05/2021
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 how many (1) prison staff, and (2) prisoners, have received their (a) first, and (b) second, COVID-19 vaccinations; and what progress they have made in restoring family visits to prisoners.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL440
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/06/2021 answer text <p>The total number of staff in Public Sector and Youth Custody Prisons who have declared that they have received their first COVID-19 vaccination, as at midday 21 May 2021, was 10,612. The total number of staff in Public Sector and Youth Custody Prisons who have declared that they have received their second COVID-19 vaccination, as at midday 21 May 2021, was 2,508.</p><p>For prisoners in England as at the end of 14 May 2021, the total number who had received their first COVID-19 vaccination was 25,655. The total number of prisoners of all ages who had received their second COVID-19 vaccination was 8,485.</p><p>Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service strongly encourages all staff and prisoners who are offered the Covid-19 vaccine, to take it. We ask employees to let us know when they have had each dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by recording their vaccine status on our HR system. As the disclosure of their vaccine status is entirely voluntary, it means the self-declaration rates presented below will be lower than the actual number of staff who have been vaccinated. However, the data collected to date is still valuable in understanding staff vaccination take up and coverage.</p><p>We are acutely aware of the impact of the restrictions on family visits, and we have had to make some difficult decisions to protect both prisoners and staff. As of 20 May, 107 establishments have commenced delivery of Stage 3 of the National Framework for Prisons which allows for the delivery of social visits with social distancing and face coverings. We are also working with Public Health England and Public Health Wales to look at how we can take safe and incremental steps to improve the experience of such visits. As part of this work we are piloting lateral flow testing for visitors.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 03/06/2021 15:49:52 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1303609

registered interest
date	17/03/2021
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 reports that deaths from COVID-19 in prisons in England and Wales rose by 50 per cent in a month in December 2020; what percentage of prisoners have now been vaccinated against COVID-19; and what other measures they have taken to decrease the risk of COVID-19 being transmitted to prisoners and to prison officers
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL14310
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2021 answer text <p>As was the case in the community, infection rates in prisons increased over the winter months which, sadly, led to an increase in deaths where Covid-19 was suspected as being the cause. With a small number of tragic exceptions, we have protected the lives of tens of thousands of staff and prisoners. Our decisive action – backed by Public Health England and Wales - has meant that the number of deaths we have seen in prisons is significantly lower than Public Health England’s Modelling at the start of the pandemic, which said there could be 2,700 deaths from coronavirus in prisons.</p><p> </p><p>As of 18 March 2021, the percentage of the whole prison population in England who have received a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is 23.4%, equivalent to 79% of the priority cohorts 2-6 (as defined by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation). The vaccination programme is making good progress and has recently expanded to start vaccinating those prisoners in priority groups 7 - 9, in line with the wider community.</p><p> </p><p>The safety of our staff and those under our supervision remains a top priority. We have taken preventative measures, such as 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 is in place, where staff are tested weekly and prisoners are tested on reception and prior to transfer. This is key in helping to prevent the spread of the virus.</p><p> </p><p>Latest published data shows positive evidence that the rate of new infections in custody is now falling substantially.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 31/03/2021 15:54:50 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1279502

registered interest
date	21/01/2021
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 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.
tabling member printed	Lord Judd
uin	HL12434
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2021 answer text <p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 04/02/2021 16:00:16 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	1660 label Biography information for Lord Judd

1238166

registered interest
date	28/09/2020
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, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 6 August (HL7333), how many of the 20,000 prisoners and 10,000 staff at the 28 sites of the testing study have now taken up the invitation to carry out an antigen test.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL8509
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>In July 2020, a Covid-19 testing study commenced in 28 prisons in England. The 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. It 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> </p><p>The results will be used to aid the management of the virus, thereby protecting lives and reducing its spread, as well as to assist in managing any future pandemic in a prison custodial setting.</p><p> </p><p>The study involves asking both prisoners and staff to volunteer to undertake antigen tests to ascertain if they are currently infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19. The study is ongoing, however the first round of testing saw 12500 tests taken. 4400 of these tests were from staff and 8100 were from prisoners.</p> answering member printed Baroness Scott of Bybrook question first answered 12/10/2020 16:23:50 answering member 4553 label Biography information for Baroness Scott of Bybrook
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

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