Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Covid-19 roadmap out of lockdown, published on 22 February 2021, what steps he is taking to establish a timeline for covid-19 recovery in prisons in England and Wales during 2021.

In line with changes to the stay at home guidance and travel restrictions in the community, over the coming weeks and months we will support establishments to ease some of the regime restrictions currently in place. This will be done when it is safe to do so and guided by public health advice. The vaccination programme, led by NHS, is making good progress and has recently expanded to start vaccinating those prisoners in priority groups 7 - 9, in line with the wider community timelines.

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 regime of testing staff weekly and prisoners on reception and transfer is in place and is key in helping to prevent the spread of the virus.