Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) prisoners, and (2) prison officers, have died from COVID-19; and what plans they, if any, to (a) increase testing, and (b) introduce further safeguarding measures, for COVID-19 in prisons.

We are working hard to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the prison system as part of the national plan to protect the NHS and save lives. We are implementing a range of measures to reduce the spread of the transmission of the virus and the numbers of lives sadly lost.

As of 5pm on Thursday, 14 May, we are aware of 21 prisoners and 8 prison staff who sadly have died with COVID-19

NHS England and Improvement is responsible for testing for COVID-19 both in the community and in secure settings. As such, we do not hold data on staff and prisoner testing. On 24 April, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced the rollout of COVID-19 testing for all essential workers and symptomatic members of their household, including prison staff, those working in Approved Premises (APs) and probation staff (including private sector service providers) in England. We have referred over 3,000 HMPPS staff for testing to date.

In Wales, testing for prison, AP and probation staff and symptomatic members of their household is being delivered through local resilience forum arrangements and through Local Health Boards.

For prisoners, tests will be conducted on symptomatic prisoners on site. The testing capacity and availability can vary between establishments, depending on local circumstances at the time.

We are continuously working with Public Health England and Public Health Wales to improve our safeguards in prisons. Our strategy has shown early signs of success in limiting the transmission of COVID-19.