Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners undertaking paid employment in the community through Release on Temporary License in England and Wales have lost their employment since the restricted regime in prisons was introduced.

Data on release on temporary licence (ROTL) is published quarterly and data covering March will be published in July, data covering April to June will be published in October.

Prisons have been facing a significant challenge to minimise the impact of COVID-19 and have been working closely with Public Health England (PHE). Without action, PHE expected the infection curve would occur faster in prisons than in the general population, putting staff and prisoners at risk and overwhelming local NHS services. As part of a range of measures to avoid this and also to reflect the current public health restrictions on non-essential travel, on 24 March Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) suspended ROTL, except for key workers, such as those in essential transport and delivery roles, or for compelling, compassionate reasons.

ROTL is a valuable resettlement tool but it also involves prisoners leaving and returning to prison from the community on a daily basis and so presents particular risks at this time. The need for the suspension is kept under review and fuller access to ROTL will be provided when and where it can be facilitated safely.