Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on covid-19 recovery in prisons in England and Wales of the proportion of staff who are new entrants to the service and have little or no experience of pre-covid regimes.

All newly recruited Prison Officers receive Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) which is an eight-week course designed to prepare new officers by giving them the knowledge and skills they need to carry out their role in pre-COVID regimes.

The safety of our staff and prisoners remains a top priority. Our measures have included restricting regimes, minimising inter-prison transfers and compartmentalising our prisons into different units to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals. A comprehensive testing regime of staff weekly and prisoners on reception and transfer is in place and is key in helping to prevent the spread of the virus.