Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to isolate (a) convicted and (b) remand prisoners on the prison estate in the event that those prisoners have symptoms of covid-19.

Prisons have existing, well-developed policies and procedures in place to manage outbreaks of infectious diseases. These policies and procedures are being built upon in response to the specific risks posed by COVID-19 and we have put in place robust contingency plans, which are informed by Public Health authorities. HMPPS has introduced a procedure for the protective isolation of both convicted and remand prisoners when it is considered that they may be potentially infected with the virus, this has been communicated to all prison staff.