Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar on 20 July (HL1761), what is their policy on whether prisoners whose sex assigned at birth was female should use female pronouns to refer to prisoners who identify as female but were assigned male at birth if such prisoners (1) have, or (2) do not have, a Gender Recognition Certificate; and whether there would be any consequences for failing to use female pronouns in such cases.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service are committed to advancing equality and eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation, including based on gender reassignment status as defined in section 7 of the Equality Act 2010. The prohibition on discrimination in relation to gender reassignment applies regardless of whether someone has a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Incidents where a prisoner uses incorrect pronouns for another prisoner will be considered on a case-by-case basis, in line with the Prisoner Discipline Procedures policy and the Prison Rules. Prisoners may sometimes make an honest mistake in relation to pronouns and disciplinary action would not usually be appropriate in those circumstances. However, if an officer deems it appropriate to place a prisoner on report, the rule against ‘using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour’ (PR 51 (20) may apply. The adjudicator will weigh each incident on its own merits. The policy stipulates that an offence motivated by another person’s protected characteristic(s) under the Equality Act 2010 is an aggravating factor and may merit referral to an Independent Adjudicator.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to review the cases of people with Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences with a view to recommending early release wherever possible.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The Government keeps the operation of sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) under constant review. This includes continuing to ensure that IPP prisoners, who have completed their minimum term of imprisonment, have every opportunity to progress towards safe release. By law, they are entitled to a review of their detention by the Parole Board at least once every two years. At the conclusion of any parole review which has not resulted in a release direction, an indicative date will be set for the prisoner’s next review, taking account of advice from the Parole Board as to the risk reduction work which a prisoner needs to complete in the intervening period. A planned review may be brought forward where the prisoner has made exceptional progress.
HM Prison and Probation Service are focused on reducing the risk and thereby the successful rehabilitation of IPP prisoners via an action plan which is being taken forward jointly with the Parole Board. This approach is working, with published statistics confirming the high numbers of IPP prisoners achieving a release decision each year.
Our primary responsibility is to protect the public; however, HMPPS remains committed to safely reducing the number of prisoners serving IPP sentences in custody.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Employment Appeals Tribunal judgment that gender critical beliefs are protected under the Equality Act 2010; and what impact that judgement will have, if any, on current female prisoners in relation to biologically male transgender prisoners.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service are committed to advancing equality, eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation (including based on someone’s religion or belief, or gender reassignment status, as defined in sections 7 and 10 of the Equality Act 2010). This commitment remains in place following the judgment Forstater v CGD Europe & Others (UKEAT/0105/20).
As part of this, we ensure that all prisoners are treated fairly and in a way that respects their rights, and encourage them to act in a way that is respectful and considerate of others. Any prisoner who has concerns about discriminatory behaviour can make a complaint via the discrimination incident reporting form and this will be investigated and addressed, as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the recent Employment Appeal Tribunal judgment that gender critical beliefs are protected under the Equality Act 2010, what steps they are taking to ensure that female prisoners will not suffer any detriment if they profess gender critical beliefs.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service are committed to advancing equality, eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation (including based on someone’s religion or belief, or gender reassignment status, as defined in sections 7 and 10 of the Equality Act 2010). This commitment remains in place following the judgment Forstater v CGD Europe & Others (UKEAT/0105/20).
As part of this, we ensure that all prisoners are treated fairly and in a way that respects their rights, and encourage them to act in a way that is respectful and considerate of others. Any prisoner who has concerns about discriminatory behaviour can make a complaint via the discrimination incident reporting form and this will be investigated and addressed, as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a new section to Procedures for searching people: PSI 07/2016, published on 26 July 2016, on the conduct of searches by transgender prison officers.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The national policy on the searching of prisoners, staff and visitors (PSI 07/2016 – Searching of the Person) is currently under review and a revised version is intended to be published later this year.
The updated policy will include direction on transgender staff conducting searches. This will account for staff with or without a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).
In reviewing the policy, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has consulted with the Government’s Legal Department and HMPPS Equalities Team. The new policy will be compliant with the Equality Act 2010, Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the European Convention of Human Rights.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that their review of Procedures for searching people: PSI 07/2016, published on 26 July 2016, takes account of the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The national policy on the searching of prisoners, staff and visitors (PSI 07/2016 – Searching of the Person) is currently under review and a revised version is intended to be published later this year.
In reviewing the policy, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has consulted with the Government’s Legal Department and HMPPS Equalities Team. The new policy will be compliant with the Equality Act 2010, Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the European Convention of Human Rights.
The updated policy will include direction on transgender staff conducting searches. This will account for staff with or without a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to revise the current policy that women prisoners have the right to be searched only by officers of female sex assigned at birth, as outlined in Procedures for searching people: PSI 07/2016, published on 26 July 2016, as part of their review of those procedures.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The national policy on the searching of prisoners, staff and visitors (PSI 07/2016 – Searching of the Person) is currently under review and a revised version is intended to be published later this year. The updated policy will include direction on transgender staff conducting searches. This will encompass staff with or without a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).
This policy allows for male officers to conduct rub down searches on the same sex only and female officers to conduct rub down searches on both sexes and has been in place since 1992. Full searches must only be conducted by a person of the same sex.
In accordance with the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) 2004, transgender people may apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). Prisoners and staff members in receipt of a GRC have the legal right to be treated as their acquired gender in every respect.
In reviewing the policy, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has consulted with the Government’s Legal Department and HMPPS Equalities Team. The new policy will be compliant with the Equality Act 2010, Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the European Convention of Human Rights.