Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 34
34
Deferred
Paragraph: 180
Publish long-term retention plans for pandemic family contact measures and current visit data for women
Recommendation
We recognise the damaging effect that the pandemic had on face-to-face contact for women and welcome the measures that were taken to ensure that women could maintain contact with their families. The Ministry of Justice should set out what measures, if any, that were introduced in response to the pandemic, will be kept on a long-term basis. Additionally, the MoJ should set out the situation with regard to family contact as it currently stands; the MoJ should include information on the number of monthly family visits that took place across the female prison estate pre- Covid, and how many are now taking place. Additionally, the MoJ should set out what measures have been put in place to ensure that women are able to access family visits as needed.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government accepted the recommendation but did not address family contact measures, pandemic-related changes, or family visit data. Instead, it detailed the Community Accommodation Service for prison leavers, outlining temporary accommodation, single-gender provision with 10% for women, and the support provided by Community Probation Practitioners and the Women’s Commissioned Rehabilitation Service for housing and holistic needs.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
180
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
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.
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