Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of limited visitations on the (a) welfare and (b) health of women in prisons.

We recognise the importance of positive family contact for all prisoners in custody. When regime restrictions were introduced in prisons to control the spread of COVID-19 and save lives, we acted quickly to ensure that prisoners could maintain family contact despite the exceptional circumstances.

Visits in exceptional circumstances and visits to children in custody continued throughout. Women’s prisons were prioritised for the roll-out of secure video calling, and additional access to video calls and phone credit were provided to promote communication with family, especially children. Closed women’s prisons were also prioritised in the roll out of in-cell telephony.

We produced tailored guidance for supporting specific groups of people in prison whose wellbeing may be more impacted by Covid-19 measures, including women. We also produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans.

From March 2021, prisons resumed social visits where it was safe to do so, as they moved to Stage 3 of the National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services. All prisons are currently offering in-person prison visits and we continue to maximise the use of video calling to support positive family ties.