Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 28
28
Deferred
Paragraph: 144
Require NHSE/I, HMPPS, MoJ to publish action plan responding to Women's Health Review.
Recommendation
We welcome the work of the National Women’s Prisons Health and Social Care Review. Once the review has published, NHSE/I, HMPPS and the MoJ should set out an action plan for how it will respond to its findings, including operational response, policy implications and how service offers and gaps in provision will be addressed in order to meet the specific needs of women. The action plan should also include steps to improve data collection on the health needs of women in prison.
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the recommendation but responded by outlining measures to maintain family contact during the pandemic, retaining social video calling permanently, and introducing a new central data collection for family visits from February 2023, rather than committing to an action plan for the National Women’s Prisons Health and Social Care Review or improving health data collection.
Paragraph Reference:
144
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
We accept this recommendation. During the pandemic we introduced a raft of temporary measures to help maintain family contact. These included issuing additional free PIN phone credit, supplying locked mobile phones for use in establishments where there was no in-cell telephony and supplying iPad tablets to establishments so prisoners could virtually attend important event such as funerals. We also introduced social video calling, the national roll-out of which was prioritised in the women’s estate. Social video calling has been retained as a permanent provision for establishments as a supplement to face-to-face visits. Additionally, all establishments have been encouraged to look at their individual additional family support provided during the pandemic to ascertain what is suitable to be added to their own family strategies as a permanent part of their family offer. Details of the number of family (or extended) visits were not collated centrally pre- pandemic as these were organised by individual establishments to meet the needs of their own prisoners’ families and did not require a visiting order or any other central administration. The new prisoner’s family performance measure, which was launched in June 2022, does require information on family visits to be collated. Establishments are now required to provide evidence that: 3. (e) The establishment has regular extended visits that are open to all prisoners. 6. (f) Prisoners with protected characteristics have fair and equal access to opportunities to engage with family and significant others, specifically with regards to visits and extended visits. This information will be held centrally from February 2023, when performance measures are due to be returned.