Prisons: Coronavirus

(asked on 4th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the number and proportion of pregnant prison staff by each grade who are (a) working from home, (b) furloughed and (c) attending the workplace during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Lucy Frazer Portrait
Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This question was answered on 13th May 2020

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) follows the Government and the Civil Service HR advice, that pregnant women are treated as those in the increased risk group apart from pregnant women with significant heart disease, congenital or acquired who are treated as part of the extremely vulnerable group. For those in the extremely vulnerable group we advise shielding, they should work from home if possible and if not possible they should be on paid special leave. For other pregnant women, we are conducting risk assessments to determine what adjustments should be made to make the workplace as safe as possible. Pregnant staff should not be working in prisoner facing roles at this time and may request to work remotely from their workplace during this period.

Furthermore, pregnant women over 28 weeks’ gestation should also follow a similar approach to shielding. This was based on information from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) which is referenced on Gov.uk as the advice for ‘guidance on pregnancy and the coronavirus’.

HMPPS does not hold the data requested.

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