Select committee: Justice Committee
Recommendation 3
5th Report - Ageing prison population
Published 27 Jul 2020
Paragraph 38
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Justice Committee Ageing prison population All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
It is welcome that the new prison places planned as part of the Government’s expansion of the estate will be designed to better accommodate older prisoners and others with disabilities or limited mobility. However, the number of new places delivered under existing expansion projects has been limited. In addition, much of the existing prison estate is unsuited to the needs of older prisoners, and there is a substantial backlog of maintenance works. We recommend that the long-term prison estate strategy in development specifically addresses the provision of reasonable adjustments and physical adaptations necessary to meeting the needs of the ageing population in existing prisons. In its response to this report, the Government should also update the Committee on the timeframe for publishing the long-term estate strategy in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially given the greater propensity of older people to contract the disease.
From: Justice Committee, 5th Report - Ageing prison population (HC 304), paragraph 38, 27 July 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 17 November 2020 (deadline 27 September 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it recognises the report's themes, has commissioned an older offenders strategy as recommended, and, because that strategy is in development, is "not yet in a position to answer each of your recommendations fully".
- On the national strategy, the government says "We agree that now is the time to produce a national strategy for older offenders", has "commenced work" and will write to the Committee once the strategy is published.
- On accommodation, the government is "considering models for accommodating older offenders as part of the older offenders strategy" and will update further once it is published. It says it will outline its long-term estates plans towards the end of the year and consult the Committee early next year.
- On projections, the government says updated prison population projections are "now due to be published on the 26th November" and will factor in additional police officers and recent sentencing policy changes.
- On telemedicine, NHS England and NHS Improvement have worked with HMPPS, and approved software and equipment "has now been procured and rolled out in all English prisons".