Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the operational guidance on Pregnancy, MBUs and maternal separation in women’s prisons published on 17 May 2023 was unpublished on 19 May 2023.

On 20 September 2021, the Ministry of Justice published a new Policy Framework on Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Units and Maternal Separation from Children up to the Age to Two in Women’s Prisons. This filled a gap in policy provision as identified by the Policy Review and an important part of the organisational response to the learning from the Baby A investigation. The new policy was introduced with Operational Guidance for prison staff.

The Operational Guidance was published on Gov.uk on the 17 May 2023. This was removed on the 19 May 2023 after identification of an error. We will re-publish the guidance as soon as the issue is resolved.