Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill

Air traffic control services in the UK are highly regulated. The effects of strong winds, and other weather events which may have a potential impact on passenger flights, are well understood and reviewed on a regular basis. Information relating to weather (wind speed & direction/ snow and ice/visibility etc.) is constantly available to pilots planning an approach to land at an airport. This provides them with the necessary information on which they can base their judgement as to whether it is safe to continue with the approach or not. The commander of the aircraft and the airline are entirely responsible for making these judgments, based on the conditions that exist at any particular time.

Aircraft and airlines have operational limitations that stipulate maximum winds (including crosswind components and associated gusts) that are acceptable. Crew are trained for approaches in such adverse weather conditions and will abort any landing where they believe continuing the approach will be unsafe or if the wind limits are exceeded. The Civil Aviation Authority’s ongoing review of standards suggests that the limitations and training, together with pilot performance, meant that safety barriers were maintained during storm Eunice.

If an individual is allergic to any component of a COVID-19 vaccine, they may be directed towards a suitable alternative vaccine following a discussion with a healthcare professional.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised that it is preferable for adults aged under 30 years old without underlying health conditions that put them at a higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease, to be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, if available. The JCVI currently advises that in addition to those aged under 30 years old, unvaccinated adults aged 30-39 years old who are not in a clinical priority cohort at higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease, should also be preferentially offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, where available.

If a person is under 40 years old, the National Booking Service will direct them to appointments for the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline, Chronic pain (primary and secondary) in over 16s: assessment of all chronic pain and management of chronic primary pain, published in April 2021, recommends a range of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment options for pain management. NICE found there was insufficient evidence on mindfulness to recommend it as an option for pain management within this guideline. However, it made recommendations for research on mindfulness to inform future guidance. A copy of NICE’s guideline is attached.

The National Health Service is also taking a holistic approach to supporting people’s health and wellbeing by expanding its social prescribing services. This enables general practitioners to refer people to community groups and agencies for practical, emotional and social support, for example when managing pain.

We are investing more than £20m in supporting prison leavers at risk of homelessness into temporary accommodation. Individuals released from prison will be provided up to 12 weeks of temporary accommodation and will be supported to secure long-term settled accommodation before the end of that 12-week period. Initially launching in five probation regions, the service will support around 3,000 offenders in its first year and will be commencing this Summer. It will be in operation during the financial year 2021-22, with a view to scaling up and rolling out nationally.

The service will take account of the needs of women, including those with complex needs, and accommodation provision will be dedicated to single gender usage as required. Community Probation Practitioners, working together with local partners, will be responsible for ensuring that vulnerable female prison leavers receive appropriate support and are provided with housing beyond the 12 weeks’ emergency accommodation.

Commissioned Rehabilitation Services are due to start delivery on 26 June 2021 which includes services to assist in accommodation; employment training and education; financial benefit and debt and personal well-being.

These provide a holistic service for all women leaving prison by providers based in the community in to which they are released. The accommodation service and mentoring service both start pre-release. The mentoring service aims to support those who lack social support in making the transition from prison to community and to assist in building social networks.

We recognise that the level of self-harm in the women’s estate is too high and are determined to reduce this. A Women’s Self-Harm Task Force was set up in April 2020 in response to our increasing concerns about the level of self-harm in the Women’s estate. We know that many of the drivers (risks and triggers) and protective factors linked to women’s risk of self-harm in prisons have been adversely affected by Covid-19 and the restricted regimes that have been put in place to control the spread of infection.

The Task Force has led work to introduce a number of specific interventions to counteract the impact of Covid-19 on self-harm in the Women’s estate. This work has seen the introduction of bespoke well-being checks, increased credit to enable phone calls and increased access to Purple Visits (video calls with family and friends).

We have prioritised the roll out of the revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) multi-disciplinary case management system used in prisons to support people at risk of suicide and self-harm. We will also be implementing the Offender Management in Custody model in the female estate in April 2021. This will provide each woman in the female estate with a dedicated key worker who will be able to better support them and identify concerns at an early stage so that women can receive the right support at the right time.

We have also produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate risks and promote wellbeing. We have developed new guidance for staff on understanding and supporting someone who is self-harming. We continue to make the Samaritans phone service available and are working with the Samaritans to ensure that the Listener peer support scheme continues to function effectively wherever possible.

We have also invested £5m in alternatives to prison, including new women’s centres which help people address issues such as alcohol or drug addiction which leads them to crime.