The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Timpson) (Lab)
I am, of course, very concerned for every prisoner refusing food. Our highly experienced staff work with prisoners to encourage them to end their refusal wherever possible. Unfortunately, these incidents are a weekly occurrence in our prisons, with hundreds of cases each year. We have long-standing procedures in place to ensure prisoner safety, our NHS partners are responsible for prison healthcare, and prison staff work with them to ensure prisoners can access the equivalent standard and range of services available in the community. If a prisoner requires hospital care, this will be facilitated.
Lord Hain (Lab)
My Lords, with many Prisoners for Palestine protesters held on prolonged remand without bail for non-violent offences, having undertaken life-threatening hunger strikes, what immediate measures are there to protect the lives and health of future hunger-striking political prisoners? Over 100 years ago, suffragettes were force-fed, brutally. Will Ministers ensure genuinely independent medical oversight, respect for prisoners’ rights, family access, the proper review and granting of bail, and full compliance with the UK’s obligations under domestic law and the European Convention on Human Rights? If any political hunger striker ever died, Ministers would never be forgiven.
Lord Timpson (Lab)
Let me be very clear. I do not want to see any person in our prisons die, and I am very grateful for the hard work of healthcare and prison staff throughout the estate to make sure that those refusing food are receiving appropriate treatment. Any prisoner who feels that they have been treated unfairly can raise a complaint through the established process, including escalating to the independent monitoring board, which is present in every prison, and asking the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman to conduct an independent review. To grant bail is not a power within the gift of Ministers. The decision to remand someone charged with an offence is for the independent judges, and lawyers can make representation to the court against the decision on behalf of their clients. To reiterate to my noble friend, I am focused on ensuring every prisoner gets the best chance of leaving prison in good health and never comes back.
Lord Sandhurst (Con)
My Lords, further to the Question from the noble Lord, Lord Hain, in the absence of clear statutory guidance on how to balance prisoners’ autonomy with the duty of care, what steps have the Government taken to ensure that prison governors and healthcare professionals have a legally sound ethical framework to follow if a hunger striker’s life is at imminent risk?
Lord Timpson (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord for his question and concern, because we were all concerned about what was happening. I spent an awful lot of time making sure that all the policies and procedures in place were being followed, which they were. Obviously, this is about how the health partners in prisons work together. Having spoken to a number of them on a regular basis, I was proud of their professionalism, compassion, kindness and care. They did a fantastic job in very difficult circumstances.
Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames (LD)
My Lords, the noble Lord pointed out that prison hunger strikes are not unusual. Now that these particular strikes have ended, how far have the Government got in considering two issues: first, the length of time these prisoners spent on remand; and secondly, whether it might be sensible to establish a specialist unit within the prison estate to provide, where practical, necessary medical assistance to hunger strikers, within the existing guidelines of course, so as to mitigate the costs, publicity and security implications of transfers to regular NHS hospitals?
Lord Timpson (Lab)
So far as the court backlogs and the length of time on remand are concerned, the situation is of course similar to what I inherited in the prisons. We need a sustainable system. We cannot have a system where we run out of prison places and victims have to wait years and years to see justice done. That is why the review by Sir Brian Leveson is so important. One of the areas where we can make a real comparison with the Prison Service is how we use technology to improve the way data links together, so we can speed things up.
So far as how the system works within our prison estate, unfortunately this is a well-trodden path. Even in my private office, three of my team were prison officers before I worked with them and have all had experience of food refusal. They all told me that there is a highly experienced team that deals with this. So, I am satisfied with the process.
Lord Walney (CB)
My Lords, the Minister is to be commended for not giving concessions to those who have refused food in this instance. Does he not think that, rather than expressing sympathy for or condoning the behaviour of these individuals, the Government’s sympathy ought to be with the working people who have been terrorised by Palestine Action—which the people on remand and facing charges are linked to—including a security guard who was attacked with a sledgehammer? Is it not more important to protect their welfare than to eulogise this behaviour?
Lord Timpson (Lab)
Our prison and probation staff do an incredible job in dealing with some of the most complicated people in this country. When they turn up to work, they turn up to help people turn their lives around, not to get assaulted or be, as has happened recently, hospitalised as a result. It is our job to make sure that we keep our prisons safe not just for those people who live and work in them but also for people who are going into and out of work.
Viscount Hailsham (Con)
My Lords, I remind the Minister that we have been here before. I express the hope that medical facilities are available to prisoners who need them, but it would be a great mistake for prison authorities to give way to the substantive demands of hunger strikers. To do so would make the prisons unmanageable.
Lord Timpson (Lab)
The noble Viscount is correct. This is a clinical decision, and that is why the work with our prison staff and health partners is so vital.
Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)
My Lords, to build on the question from the noble Lord, Lord Marks, can my noble friend say something more about continuity of care when prisoners leave prison, whether they have been on remand or been sentenced? I am not talking just about drug addicts, but a whole range of medical issues which need that continuity. Can my noble friend say something more about how he is building on that care?
Lord Timpson (Lab)
I thank my noble friend. It is vital that, because so many people leave prison with drug, alcohol and mental health issues, we carry on that care with our health partners when they leave. I am really pleased that we are rolling out four new NHS neighbourhood hubs working with the probation team. These are based in probation offices so the teams can all work together. I hope to roll that out further. In some ways, it is a bit like the intensive supervision court model—to address someone’s complex needs, you need more people in the room than just probation staff, even though they do a fantastic job. It is where health partners, DWP partners and so on work. On Thursday last week, I was in Southampton meeting the probation teams there. It was clear from what they were telling me that, apart from needing lots more technology and support, it is about being joined up with other government departments, especially health and housing. That joint approach is vital to ensure that when people leave prison, we keep the support around them so they do not come back.
Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)
My Lords, prisoners on remand are, of course, innocent until proven guilty and as such are entitled to certain privileges in respect of clothing, family visits and reading materials. Will the Minister agree to meet legal representatives of prisoners and initiate his own review of whether those entitlements are being met in full?
Lord Timpson (Lab)
Prison rules are there for a very good purpose, and rules are rules. It is the same for any prisoner, on remand or not. If any prisoner is not content, their concerns can be brought to the independent monitoring board or the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.
Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)
My Lords, as a non-affiliated Member, I share the deep concerns of my noble friend Lord Hain. I say to the Minister that it is not eulogising to ask for compassion, fairness and justice for people held on charge, on remand, not proven. Therefore, will the Minister meet with those who could perhaps somehow bring the families and relatives of those in prison closer to them? There is a tragic need for this, and it needs to be done urgently.
Lord Timpson (Lab)
I spend a lot of my time going around prisons, meeting staff, meeting prisoners and seeing probation areas as well. There are already well-established routes. If prisoners and their families have concerns, the independent monitoring board and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman are the best routes for them to take up their concerns.