Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2023 to Question 183237 on Prison Accommodation, what guidance his Department issues on the appropriate amount of time out of cell for prisoners.

We are committed to delivering purposeful activity within prisons: our plans for prison regime reform are set out in the Prisons Strategy White Paper - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

As noted in my reply of 9 May, there is no central requirement governing the amount of time that prisoners should spend out of their cells. Governors have the flexibility to deliver balanced regimes to meet the needs of their establishment’s population. The collection of data on time spent out of cell is not currently practicable.