Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that deaths from COVID-19 in prisons in England and Wales rose by 50 per cent in a month in December 2020; what percentage of prisoners have now been vaccinated against COVID-19; and what other measures they have taken to decrease the risk of COVID-19 being transmitted to prisoners and to prison officers

As was the case in the community, infection rates in prisons increased over the winter months which, sadly, led to an increase in deaths where Covid-19 was suspected as being the cause. With a small number of tragic exceptions, we have protected the lives of tens of thousands of staff and prisoners. Our decisive action – backed by Public Health England and Wales - has meant that the number of deaths we have seen in prisons is significantly lower than Public Health England’s Modelling at the start of the pandemic, which said there could be 2,700 deaths from coronavirus in prisons.

As of 18 March 2021, the percentage of the whole prison population in England who have received a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is 23.4%, equivalent to 79% of the priority cohorts 2-6 (as defined by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation). The vaccination programme is making good progress and has recently expanded to start vaccinating those prisoners in priority groups 7 - 9, in line with the wider community.

The safety of our staff and those under our supervision remains a top priority. We have taken preventative measures, such as restricting regimes, minimising inter-prison transfers, and compartmentalising our prisons into different units to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals. A comprehensive testing regime is in place, where staff are tested weekly and prisoners are tested on reception and prior to transfer. This is key in helping to prevent the spread of the virus.

Latest published data shows positive evidence that the rate of new infections in custody is now falling substantially.