Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the equality implications of the application of the prison uniform policy to male and female prisoners; and if he will make a statement.

An equalities assessment underpins the extant policy on prison uniform.

Transgender prisoners can present themselves in the relevant gender, which may include wearing their own clothes, subject to risk, security or operational assessments.

We are currently reviewing the arrangements on prison-issue clothing with the intention of ensuring that in the future the national policy will treat male and female prisoners the same. As part of this work we are considering the equality implications for prisoners with protected characteristics (including transgender prisoners) and how we may mitigate any disadvantages.