Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Deferred
Paragraph: 78
Remanded individuals deprioritised for essential services due to lack of release date.
Conclusion
There is clearly a need for greater support to help those on remand while in prison. Due to the average length of time defendants now spend on remand, they are more likely to lose their accommodation, employment, and custody of children, and if found guilty they are increasingly likely to be released on time served without having received the release date required to access some vital services. Support services for those remanded into custody need to be in place to help manage this. HMPPS should ensure that remanded individuals are not deprioritised for services such as mental health assessments, drug treatment, education, training, and employment due to their lack of release date.
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the recommendation, but the response focused on initiatives to help prisoners maintain family ties, such as secure social video calling and Pin phone services, rather than ensuring remanded individuals are not deprioritised for mental health, drug treatment, education, training, and employment services.
Paragraph Reference:
78
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
We accept this recommendation. We recognise the importance of maintaining a prisoner’s relationship with family and friends. Strengthening family ties is an integral aspect of the work of MoJ and HMPPS. Governors are accountable for ensuring that the offer of social visits meets the minimum entitlement and seeks to meet as much demand as possible from families and prisoners within the capacity of their regimes. We moved swiftly in 2020 to offer secure social video calling in all prisons as an additional option for families to stay in touch during the pandemic. In line with our commitment in the Prisons Strategy White Paper, secure social video calls are now embedded across the whole prison estate, and they provide another contact option for families, including those with children of all ages, to stay in touch. Prisoners will not be asked to accept a video call in place of a face-to-face visit unless this is their preference. There will be provision in every closed prison for a Pin phone service, delivered over phones in cells by the end of the 2023/24 financial year. Provisions such as the Prison Voicemail and Email a Prisoner services, provided by third party organisations, are available in all prisons, and are another option for families and significant others to stay in touch with people in prison alongside phone and video calls.