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1205709

registered interest
date	19/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons in England and Wales were providing virtual visits to prisoners on the 18 June 2020.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	61691
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2020 answer text <p>We have introduced a temporary emergency video calling service in recognition of the importance of maintaining family contact while social visits have been temporarily suspended in prisons in England and Wales. Due to the urgency of the situation and the complexity required in assessing and approving a solution to provide these services, a direct award under Regulation 32 (2) (c) was made. We have published information regarding the provision of video calls on GOV.UK and made clear we will continue to expand secure video calling to more establishments during this time.</p><p>The list of prisons providing video calling visits to prisoners on the 18 June 2020 was as follows; Berwyn, Bronzefiled, Buckley Hall, Chelmsford, Cookham Wood, Deerbolt, Downview, Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Full Sutton, Gartree, Guys Marsh, High Down, Hull, Send, Stocken, Swinfen Hall, Wayland, Werrington, and Wetherby. We are currently engaged with further establishments to train and help prepare them to introduce this service, which means further establishments will go live at different times based on local preparedness. Some establishments have encountered local network and connectivity issues which have required bespoke technical solutions to be developed to allow them to commence live calls.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold a central list of offenders who are denied access, specific incidents that have led to issues, and the costs involved with the system broken down by prison. In principle, all prisoners will have access to video calls, however, Governors and Directors may withhold access from prisoners where, based on an assessment of risk, to do so is necessary, non-discriminatory and proportionate under Prison Rule 34 or YOI Rule 9. In these instances the reasons for withholding access must be recorded. As we are in the process of implementing provision more widely throughout the estate it is too early to make operational assessments, however, this will be conducted at a suitable time.</p><p>At the appropriate time, we will consider future options for video calling across the estate beyond Covid-19 restrictions, which may include a competition for such services.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 61692 61693 61694 61695 61696 61697 question first answered 30/06/2020 09:34:33 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1205710

registered interest
date	19/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timeframe is for each prison in England and Wales to provide virtual visits.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	61692
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2020 answer text <p>We have introduced a temporary emergency video calling service in recognition of the importance of maintaining family contact while social visits have been temporarily suspended in prisons in England and Wales. Due to the urgency of the situation and the complexity required in assessing and approving a solution to provide these services, a direct award under Regulation 32 (2) (c) was made. We have published information regarding the provision of video calls on GOV.UK and made clear we will continue to expand secure video calling to more establishments during this time.</p><p>The list of prisons providing video calling visits to prisoners on the 18 June 2020 was as follows; Berwyn, Bronzefiled, Buckley Hall, Chelmsford, Cookham Wood, Deerbolt, Downview, Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Full Sutton, Gartree, Guys Marsh, High Down, Hull, Send, Stocken, Swinfen Hall, Wayland, Werrington, and Wetherby. We are currently engaged with further establishments to train and help prepare them to introduce this service, which means further establishments will go live at different times based on local preparedness. Some establishments have encountered local network and connectivity issues which have required bespoke technical solutions to be developed to allow them to commence live calls.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold a central list of offenders who are denied access, specific incidents that have led to issues, and the costs involved with the system broken down by prison. In principle, all prisoners will have access to video calls, however, Governors and Directors may withhold access from prisoners where, based on an assessment of risk, to do so is necessary, non-discriminatory and proportionate under Prison Rule 34 or YOI Rule 9. In these instances the reasons for withholding access must be recorded. As we are in the process of implementing provision more widely throughout the estate it is too early to make operational assessments, however, this will be conducted at a suitable time.</p><p>At the appropriate time, we will consider future options for video calling across the estate beyond Covid-19 restrictions, which may include a competition for such services.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 61691 61693 61694 61695 61696 61697 question first answered 30/06/2020 09:34:33 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1205711

registered interest
date	19/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on prisons in England and Wales that have experienced problems with the virtual visits system that resulted in (a) delayed visits and (b) the prevention of the provision of those visits.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	61693
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2020 answer text <p>We have introduced a temporary emergency video calling service in recognition of the importance of maintaining family contact while social visits have been temporarily suspended in prisons in England and Wales. Due to the urgency of the situation and the complexity required in assessing and approving a solution to provide these services, a direct award under Regulation 32 (2) (c) was made. We have published information regarding the provision of video calls on GOV.UK and made clear we will continue to expand secure video calling to more establishments during this time.</p><p>The list of prisons providing video calling visits to prisoners on the 18 June 2020 was as follows; Berwyn, Bronzefiled, Buckley Hall, Chelmsford, Cookham Wood, Deerbolt, Downview, Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Full Sutton, Gartree, Guys Marsh, High Down, Hull, Send, Stocken, Swinfen Hall, Wayland, Werrington, and Wetherby. We are currently engaged with further establishments to train and help prepare them to introduce this service, which means further establishments will go live at different times based on local preparedness. Some establishments have encountered local network and connectivity issues which have required bespoke technical solutions to be developed to allow them to commence live calls.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold a central list of offenders who are denied access, specific incidents that have led to issues, and the costs involved with the system broken down by prison. In principle, all prisoners will have access to video calls, however, Governors and Directors may withhold access from prisoners where, based on an assessment of risk, to do so is necessary, non-discriminatory and proportionate under Prison Rule 34 or YOI Rule 9. In these instances the reasons for withholding access must be recorded. As we are in the process of implementing provision more widely throughout the estate it is too early to make operational assessments, however, this will be conducted at a suitable time.</p><p>At the appropriate time, we will consider future options for video calling across the estate beyond Covid-19 restrictions, which may include a competition for such services.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 61691 61692 61694 61695 61696 61697 question first answered 30/06/2020 09:34:33 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1205712

registered interest
date	19/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department holds a list of the names of prisoners that are prohibited from accessing virtual visits.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	61694
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2020 answer text <p>We have introduced a temporary emergency video calling service in recognition of the importance of maintaining family contact while social visits have been temporarily suspended in prisons in England and Wales. Due to the urgency of the situation and the complexity required in assessing and approving a solution to provide these services, a direct award under Regulation 32 (2) (c) was made. We have published information regarding the provision of video calls on GOV.UK and made clear we will continue to expand secure video calling to more establishments during this time.</p><p>The list of prisons providing video calling visits to prisoners on the 18 June 2020 was as follows; Berwyn, Bronzefiled, Buckley Hall, Chelmsford, Cookham Wood, Deerbolt, Downview, Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Full Sutton, Gartree, Guys Marsh, High Down, Hull, Send, Stocken, Swinfen Hall, Wayland, Werrington, and Wetherby. We are currently engaged with further establishments to train and help prepare them to introduce this service, which means further establishments will go live at different times based on local preparedness. Some establishments have encountered local network and connectivity issues which have required bespoke technical solutions to be developed to allow them to commence live calls.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold a central list of offenders who are denied access, specific incidents that have led to issues, and the costs involved with the system broken down by prison. In principle, all prisoners will have access to video calls, however, Governors and Directors may withhold access from prisoners where, based on an assessment of risk, to do so is necessary, non-discriminatory and proportionate under Prison Rule 34 or YOI Rule 9. In these instances the reasons for withholding access must be recorded. As we are in the process of implementing provision more widely throughout the estate it is too early to make operational assessments, however, this will be conducted at a suitable time.</p><p>At the appropriate time, we will consider future options for video calling across the estate beyond Covid-19 restrictions, which may include a competition for such services.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 61691 61692 61693 61695 61696 61697 question first answered 30/06/2020 09:34:33 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1205713

registered interest
date	19/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria his Department uses to determine whether a prisoner is eligible to access virtual visits.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	61695
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2020 answer text <p>We have introduced a temporary emergency video calling service in recognition of the importance of maintaining family contact while social visits have been temporarily suspended in prisons in England and Wales. Due to the urgency of the situation and the complexity required in assessing and approving a solution to provide these services, a direct award under Regulation 32 (2) (c) was made. We have published information regarding the provision of video calls on GOV.UK and made clear we will continue to expand secure video calling to more establishments during this time.</p><p>The list of prisons providing video calling visits to prisoners on the 18 June 2020 was as follows; Berwyn, Bronzefiled, Buckley Hall, Chelmsford, Cookham Wood, Deerbolt, Downview, Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Full Sutton, Gartree, Guys Marsh, High Down, Hull, Send, Stocken, Swinfen Hall, Wayland, Werrington, and Wetherby. We are currently engaged with further establishments to train and help prepare them to introduce this service, which means further establishments will go live at different times based on local preparedness. Some establishments have encountered local network and connectivity issues which have required bespoke technical solutions to be developed to allow them to commence live calls.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold a central list of offenders who are denied access, specific incidents that have led to issues, and the costs involved with the system broken down by prison. In principle, all prisoners will have access to video calls, however, Governors and Directors may withhold access from prisoners where, based on an assessment of risk, to do so is necessary, non-discriminatory and proportionate under Prison Rule 34 or YOI Rule 9. In these instances the reasons for withholding access must be recorded. As we are in the process of implementing provision more widely throughout the estate it is too early to make operational assessments, however, this will be conducted at a suitable time.</p><p>At the appropriate time, we will consider future options for video calling across the estate beyond Covid-19 restrictions, which may include a competition for such services.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 61691 61692 61693 61694 61696 61697 question first answered 30/06/2020 09:34:33 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1205714

registered interest
date	19/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse is of the (a) installation and (b) operation of virtual visits in each prison in England and Wales.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	61696
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2020 answer text <p>We have introduced a temporary emergency video calling service in recognition of the importance of maintaining family contact while social visits have been temporarily suspended in prisons in England and Wales. Due to the urgency of the situation and the complexity required in assessing and approving a solution to provide these services, a direct award under Regulation 32 (2) (c) was made. We have published information regarding the provision of video calls on GOV.UK and made clear we will continue to expand secure video calling to more establishments during this time.</p><p>The list of prisons providing video calling visits to prisoners on the 18 June 2020 was as follows; Berwyn, Bronzefiled, Buckley Hall, Chelmsford, Cookham Wood, Deerbolt, Downview, Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Full Sutton, Gartree, Guys Marsh, High Down, Hull, Send, Stocken, Swinfen Hall, Wayland, Werrington, and Wetherby. We are currently engaged with further establishments to train and help prepare them to introduce this service, which means further establishments will go live at different times based on local preparedness. Some establishments have encountered local network and connectivity issues which have required bespoke technical solutions to be developed to allow them to commence live calls.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold a central list of offenders who are denied access, specific incidents that have led to issues, and the costs involved with the system broken down by prison. In principle, all prisoners will have access to video calls, however, Governors and Directors may withhold access from prisoners where, based on an assessment of risk, to do so is necessary, non-discriminatory and proportionate under Prison Rule 34 or YOI Rule 9. In these instances the reasons for withholding access must be recorded. As we are in the process of implementing provision more widely throughout the estate it is too early to make operational assessments, however, this will be conducted at a suitable time.</p><p>At the appropriate time, we will consider future options for video calling across the estate beyond Covid-19 restrictions, which may include a competition for such services.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 61691 61692 61693 61694 61695 61697 question first answered 30/06/2020 09:34:33 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1205715

registered interest
date	19/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the contract to provide virtual visit technology to prisons in England and Wales was put out to tender.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	61697
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2020 answer text <p>We have introduced a temporary emergency video calling service in recognition of the importance of maintaining family contact while social visits have been temporarily suspended in prisons in England and Wales. Due to the urgency of the situation and the complexity required in assessing and approving a solution to provide these services, a direct award under Regulation 32 (2) (c) was made. We have published information regarding the provision of video calls on GOV.UK and made clear we will continue to expand secure video calling to more establishments during this time.</p><p>The list of prisons providing video calling visits to prisoners on the 18 June 2020 was as follows; Berwyn, Bronzefiled, Buckley Hall, Chelmsford, Cookham Wood, Deerbolt, Downview, Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Full Sutton, Gartree, Guys Marsh, High Down, Hull, Send, Stocken, Swinfen Hall, Wayland, Werrington, and Wetherby. We are currently engaged with further establishments to train and help prepare them to introduce this service, which means further establishments will go live at different times based on local preparedness. Some establishments have encountered local network and connectivity issues which have required bespoke technical solutions to be developed to allow them to commence live calls.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold a central list of offenders who are denied access, specific incidents that have led to issues, and the costs involved with the system broken down by prison. In principle, all prisoners will have access to video calls, however, Governors and Directors may withhold access from prisoners where, based on an assessment of risk, to do so is necessary, non-discriminatory and proportionate under Prison Rule 34 or YOI Rule 9. In these instances the reasons for withholding access must be recorded. As we are in the process of implementing provision more widely throughout the estate it is too early to make operational assessments, however, this will be conducted at a suitable time.</p><p>At the appropriate time, we will consider future options for video calling across the estate beyond Covid-19 restrictions, which may include a competition for such services.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 61691 61692 61693 61694 61695 61696 question first answered 30/06/2020 09:34:33 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1000222

registered interest
date	02/11/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
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 increasing the number of closed-contact visits in prisons to prevent smuggling.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	187326
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Visits play an important part of reducing reoffending as good relationships with family and friends is proved to reduce risk of reoffending.</p><p>The management and guidance for the use of closed visits is within Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 15/2011. The PSI specifies that closed visits should be imposed where there is an identified risk of smuggling prohibited items.</p><p>We recognise the benefits that Internet Based Video Services (IBVS) can provide in assisting prisoners with maintaining family ties. At present, however, prisoners are not allowed to use an IBVS as a way of communicating, due to operational concerns about the control measures available to safeguard the use of such communications. Work is currently underway to explore the options for the use of IBVS in establishments with strict safeguards in place, and the possibility of making greater use of such within prisons in the near future.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart grouped question UIN 187327 question first answered 12/11/2018 17:14:17 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord