The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not commissioned any relevant research since the current version of the policy framework ‘The Care and Management of Individuals who are Transgender’ was published in 2019. However, this policy was formulated following consultation with a range of stakeholders including staff and external groups representing the interests of prisoners, and after consideration of the existing evidence on transgender people in prison, including internal data. Decisions regarding transgender prisoners continue to be made on a case-by-case basis, and all known risk factors (including any risk to the person, risk to others and risk of self-harm) are thoroughly assessed in each case.

The MoJ recognises the importance of good quality data and evidence and this will continue to be considered, as part of the ongoing implementation review, where evidence gaps are highlighted.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not commissioned any relevant research since the current version of the policy framework ‘The Care and Management of Individuals who are Transgender’ was published in 2019. However, this policy was formulated following consultation with a range of stakeholders including staff and external groups representing the interests of prisoners, and after consideration of the existing evidence on transgender people in prison, including internal data. Decisions regarding transgender prisoners continue to be made on a case-by-case basis, and all known risk factors (including any risk to the person, risk to others and risk of self-harm) are thoroughly assessed in each case.

The MoJ recognises the importance of good quality data and evidence and this will continue to be considered, as part of the ongoing implementation review, where evidence gaps are highlighted.

The figures requested are set out below. These figures refer to the number of individuals recalled, so the figures may differ from published recall numbers which refer to instances of recall.

It should be noted that the figures for 2021 reflect the published statistics and refer only to the first quarter of the year and cannot therefore be compared to those provided for 2019 and 2020.

Total number of offenders recalled to prison for 14 days or less

Total number of offenders recalled to prison for 14 days or less more than once

Public protection is our priority. Offenders on licence are subject to strict licence conditions and supervision.

Where offenders are eligible for a fixed-term recall, they may be recalled to prison on a fixed-term basis, where that is a necessary and proportionate response to a breach of licence conditions. If not, they will receive a standard recall, which is the only type of recall available for those offenders ineligible for a fixed-term recall (such as those on a life licence). Where they receive a standard recall, they are liable to serve the rest of their sentence in prison, unless the Parole Board, or the Secretary of State using executive powers, decide to re-releases them.

Recall information is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly

The figures requested are set out below. These figures refer to the number of individuals recalled, so the figures may differ from published recall numbers which refer to instances of recall.

It should be noted that the figures for 2021 reflect the published statistics and refer only to the first quarter of the year and cannot therefore be compared to those provided for 2019 and 2020.

Total number of offenders recalled to prison for 14 days or less

Total number of offenders recalled to prison for 14 days or less more than once

Public protection is our priority. Offenders on licence are subject to strict licence conditions and supervision.

Where offenders are eligible for a fixed-term recall, they may be recalled to prison on a fixed-term basis, where that is a necessary and proportionate response to a breach of licence conditions. If not, they will receive a standard recall, which is the only type of recall available for those offenders ineligible for a fixed-term recall (such as those on a life licence). Where they receive a standard recall, they are liable to serve the rest of their sentence in prison, unless the Parole Board, or the Secretary of State using executive powers, decide to re-releases them.

Recall information is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly

The Government takes the mental health of people within the criminal justice system very seriously, including those who have been remanded to prison from court under the Mental Health Act, or under the ‘own protection’ clause of the Bail Act.

In January, together with the Department for Health and Social Care, we published a White Paper setting out proposals for landmark reform of the Mental Health Act and responding to the findings of the Wessely Review.   Among other reforms, this includes commitments to support offenders with serious mental health needs to access the care they need as quickly and early as possible. We are accepting, and intend to take forward, the vast majority of the Review’s recommendations, including a commitment to end the use of prison as a place of safety under the Mental Health Act. Work is underway between the MoJ and DHSC to introduce a Mental Health Act Bill.

The Bail Act also contains provision which enables the courts to remand an individual into custody for their own protection. We are currently internally reviewing this issue.

Regarding the particular findings of the chief inspector’s recent report at HMP Low Newton, I take the findings seriously. As well as the important work referenced, an action plan is being prepared to address the recommendations made in this report and will be published by October.

The Government takes the health and wellbeing of prisoners very seriously. Maintaining the safety and wellbeing of prisoners has remained a priority throughout the pandemic.

When regime restrictions were introduced in prisons to control the spread of COVID-19 and save lives, we recognised that these measures could exacerbate the mental health needs of those in our care.

To address anxiety and boredom, we have made available distraction packs, in cell activities and a range of self-help materials, including a Wellbeing Plan, created with input from mental health charity Mind. We also gave staff resources for assisting prisoners who might be struggling, such as guidance for understanding and supporting someone who is self-harming and wellbeing checks for vulnerable and priority groups of prisoners. The Samaritans phone service has remained available and we are working with them to ensure their Listener scheme continues to facilitate peer support between prisoners.

We have also acted quickly to ensure that prisoners could stay in touch with their loved ones, rolling-out secure mobile handsets, providing every prisoner with £5 PIN credit per week and introducing secure video calls.

The National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services sets out how we will take decisions about easing Covid-19 restrictions, and the different Regime Stages prisons will operate at. Prisons continue to progress wherever safe to do so; the majority of prisons are now operating at Stage 2 of the Framework and the first prisons have reached Stage 1, which involves the lowest degree of restrictions.

Our plan for easing restrictions in prisons (and re-introducing them where necessary) will be guided by public health advice alongside an operational assessment of what can be safely implemented, whilst ensuring we can keep staff and prisoners safe. The National Framework for prison regimes, which sets out in detail how we will take decisions about easing coronavirus-related restrictions in prisons, was published on GOV.UK on 2 June 2020 and updated 18 August 2021: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-national-framework-for-prison-regimes-and-services

We had to suspend routine social visits to adults in prisons over the winter, due to the risks from Covid-19, although visits in exceptional circumstances and visits to children in custody continued. From March 2021, prisons resumed social visits where it was safe to do so, as they moved to Stage 3 of the Framework. All prisons are currently offering in-person prison visits, with physical contact allowed for all people aged under 11, to reflect public health advice on the lower transmission risks for that age group and particular needs of children. In addition, two adults from two different households are now able to visit together, making it easier for prisoners to see more people.

We are also conducting a national rollout allowing visitors to Stage 2 prisons to produce a negative rapid test result in order to have physical contact with the person they are visiting and access to refreshment facilities. Social distancing measures will remain in place at this time for those aged over 11 who cannot provide a negative test result.

We continue to maximise the use of video calling to support positive family ties.

The information requested is provided in the attached spreadsheet.

We have worked closely with Public Health Wales throughout the pandemic and have well-developed policies and procedures in place to manage outbreaks and infectious diseases. This means prisons and probation services are well prepared to take immediate action whenever cases or suspected cases are identified. These measures so far have included restricting regimes, minimising inter-prison transfers, compartmentalising our prisons into different units to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals, and introducing an extensive testing programme to test staff and prisoners.

We are also supporting the NHS to deliver the vaccination programme to staff and prisoners to reduce transmission risks and to protect the population from serious illness and fatalities. Our plan for easing restrictions in prisons and probation (and re-introducing them where necessary) are and will be guided by public health.

Peer led services are increasingly popular across prisons and many of these are supported nationally, such as the Listener Scheme run in partnership with Samaritans to provide peer support. Many more local initiatives offer a range of peer education; support; mentoring and signposting roles. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) continues to look at peer led initiatives to support consistency and good practice.

HMPPS is trialling peer led initiatives as part of a joint project with Penal Reform Solutions to look at peer led activities in a challenged prison environment, and closely record their progress and effectiveness. Lessons learned from this trial will be shared with HMPPS colleagues by December alongside development of tools and learning products to support and strengthen initiatives across the estate.

Drug Strategy leads have recently been introduced at HMPs Durham, Berwyn, New Hall and Guys Marsh. Part of their focus will be to develop a range of peer led initiatives to promote recovery, health and wellbeing outcomes.

We recognise the importance of positive family contact for all prisoners in custody. When regime restrictions were introduced in prisons to control the spread of COVID-19 and save lives, we acted quickly to ensure that prisoners could maintain family contact despite the exceptional circumstances.

Visits in exceptional circumstances and visits to children in custody continued throughout. Women’s prisons were prioritised for the roll-out of secure video calling, and additional access to video calls and phone credit were provided to promote communication with family, especially children. Closed women’s prisons were also prioritised in the roll out of in-cell telephony.

We produced tailored guidance for supporting specific groups of people in prison whose wellbeing may be more impacted by Covid-19 measures, including women. We also produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans.

From March 2021, prisons resumed social visits where it was safe to do so, as they moved to Stage 3 of the National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services. All prisons are currently offering in-person prison visits and we continue to maximise the use of video calling to support positive family ties.

The Female Offender Strategy emphasises both the importance of diversion and community solutions and the need to provide support for offenders who are in or have left prison.

Since publication of the strategy in June 2018, we have invested £7 million of Strategy funding in women’s community sector services across England and Wales to sustain and enhance current services and provide properties for new women’s centres which provide an important route to diversion from prison.

Under the probation dynamic framework, we have also awarded almost £46 million to charities to deliver wraparound support to women in the criminal justice system over the next three years.

This year we are also boosting funding to steer more women away from crime and prison. £2.5 million will be awarded to community services which tackle root causes of offending and cut crime.

No, the programme to deliver up to 500 new places in women’s prisons is being funded out of the MoJ’s 3-year capital allocation for additional prison capacity. The £315m in capital funding for 2021/22 announced last November is being invested in refurbishment and renewal of the existing prison estate, including temporary accommodation to replace a number of units recently taken out of use that no longer meet current fire safety standards. We expect to spend over £21m of the £315m on works to improve conditions in women’s prisons.

We want people to have confidence in a justice system that is fair and open – one where no person suffers discrimination of any sort.

The over-representation of ethnic minority women in prisons, and in the justice system more widely, is a real concern and we continue to prioritise understanding and tackling disparities they may face.

The Female Offender Strategy (FOS), a comprehensive programme of work to improve outcomes for women at all points of the CJS, included a clear commitment to look at how the distinct needs of ethnic minority women can be better addressed, and work is underway to deliver this commitment.

We have established a specific Female Offender Minority Ethnic (FOME) Working Group to better understand the issues faced by ethnic minority women in the CJS. This brings together policy and operational leads with expert voluntary sector colleagues with experience of supporting this cohort of women.

Work includes developing specific staff training centred on the needs of ethnic minority women, user-centred research focusing on the earlier experiences ethnic minority women face in understanding the legal processes they face up to the pre-sentencing stage, supporting those voluntary sector organisations who work with this cohort, and taking forward the recommendations of Lord Farmer’s Review.

More generally, the Department has published two updates to our work on tackling racial disparities detailing the full range of activities to address race disparity in the CJS including specific sections focused on work relevant to the disparity faced by ethnic minority women.

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) keeps abreast of any research and reviews relevant to our rehabilitative work and will consider the Lancet Psychiatry paper as we would with any published study. Programmes that follow Risk, Need and Responsivity (RNR) and Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment (CBT) principles have been shown to be linked to a reduction in reoffending. There is considerable research highlighting the importance of RNR in promoting effective interventions, and evidence to support the use of CBT programmes that include the teaching of skills to reduce offending.

Therapeutic communities (TC) are part of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway, a joint venture with NHS England and Improvement. There are currently no plans to increase the number of prisons that operate TCs. The evidence and principles behind TC are at the heart of the OPD pathway which operates across prisons and probation. The Pathway continues to look for opportunities to invest in provision within available resources.

In July, this Government published the Beating Crime Plan which announced plans to tackle some of these key drivers of reoffending. This includes launching a £20m scheme across five probation regions to provide temporary accommodation for prison leavers at risk of homelessness. As set out in the Beating Crime Plan, we are also encouraging prison leavers to turn their backs on crime by securing employment. The Prison Service’s New Futures Network continues to broker partnerships between prisons and employers to improve employment opportunities for prisoners and prison leavers and we are increasing the number of DWP Prison Work Coaches across the estate, which means that prior to release, prisoners can access advice and support on employment and benefits. The Civil Service is also leading by example with the goal of recruiting 1,000 prison leavers by the end of 2023.

This is all part of wider investment this Government announced earlier this year: £70 million package to tackle some of these key drivers of repeat offending and £80 million on expanding drug treatment services in England to address offenders’ substance misuse issues, divert them on to effective community sentences and reduce drug-related crime and deaths. This £80 million will bolster the continuity of care for substance misuse treatment for prison leavers and we will continue to work closely with NHS England on rolling out RECONNECT services for those leaving prison to ensure that they engage with community health services.

We are committed to evaluating the current suite of accredited offender behaviour programmes and have a number of evaluations underway or being scoped. Where there is a sufficient number of people who have completed the programme and the necessary data is available to construct a meaningful comparison group, to help attribute any change to the intervention, the aim is to conduct good quality offending and reoffending impact studies to assess whether the programme is effective. We will be keeping the future direction of travel on accredited programmes under review using the best evidence.

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) keeps abreast of any research and reviews relevant to our rehabilitative work and will consider the Lancet Psychiatry paper as we would with any published study. Programmes that follow Risk, Need and Responsivity (RNR) and Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment (CBT) principles have been shown to be linked to a reduction in reoffending. There is considerable research highlighting the importance of RNR in promoting effective interventions, and evidence to support the use of CBT programmes that include the teaching of skills to reduce offending.

Therapeutic communities (TC) are part of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway, a joint venture with NHS England and Improvement. There are currently no plans to increase the number of prisons that operate TCs. The evidence and principles behind TC are at the heart of the OPD pathway which operates across prisons and probation. The Pathway continues to look for opportunities to invest in provision within available resources.

In July, this Government published the Beating Crime Plan which announced plans to tackle some of these key drivers of reoffending. This includes launching a £20m scheme across five probation regions to provide temporary accommodation for prison leavers at risk of homelessness. As set out in the Beating Crime Plan, we are also encouraging prison leavers to turn their backs on crime by securing employment. The Prison Service’s New Futures Network continues to broker partnerships between prisons and employers to improve employment opportunities for prisoners and prison leavers and we are increasing the number of DWP Prison Work Coaches across the estate, which means that prior to release, prisoners can access advice and support on employment and benefits. The Civil Service is also leading by example with the goal of recruiting 1,000 prison leavers by the end of 2023.

This is all part of wider investment this Government announced earlier this year: £70 million package to tackle some of these key drivers of repeat offending and £80 million on expanding drug treatment services in England to address offenders’ substance misuse issues, divert them on to effective community sentences and reduce drug-related crime and deaths. This £80 million will bolster the continuity of care for substance misuse treatment for prison leavers and we will continue to work closely with NHS England on rolling out RECONNECT services for those leaving prison to ensure that they engage with community health services.

We are committed to evaluating the current suite of accredited offender behaviour programmes and have a number of evaluations underway or being scoped. Where there is a sufficient number of people who have completed the programme and the necessary data is available to construct a meaningful comparison group, to help attribute any change to the intervention, the aim is to conduct good quality offending and reoffending impact studies to assess whether the programme is effective. We will be keeping the future direction of travel on accredited programmes under review using the best evidence.

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) keeps abreast of any research and reviews relevant to our rehabilitative work and will consider the Lancet Psychiatry paper as we would with any published study. Programmes that follow Risk, Need and Responsivity (RNR) and Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment (CBT) principles have been shown to be linked to a reduction in reoffending. There is considerable research highlighting the importance of RNR in promoting effective interventions, and evidence to support the use of CBT programmes that include the teaching of skills to reduce offending.

Therapeutic communities (TC) are part of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway, a joint venture with NHS England and Improvement. There are currently no plans to increase the number of prisons that operate TCs. The evidence and principles behind TC are at the heart of the OPD pathway which operates across prisons and probation. The Pathway continues to look for opportunities to invest in provision within available resources.

In July, this Government published the Beating Crime Plan which announced plans to tackle some of these key drivers of reoffending. This includes launching a £20m scheme across five probation regions to provide temporary accommodation for prison leavers at risk of homelessness. As set out in the Beating Crime Plan, we are also encouraging prison leavers to turn their backs on crime by securing employment. The Prison Service’s New Futures Network continues to broker partnerships between prisons and employers to improve employment opportunities for prisoners and prison leavers and we are increasing the number of DWP Prison Work Coaches across the estate, which means that prior to release, prisoners can access advice and support on employment and benefits. The Civil Service is also leading by example with the goal of recruiting 1,000 prison leavers by the end of 2023.

This is all part of wider investment this Government announced earlier this year: £70 million package to tackle some of these key drivers of repeat offending and £80 million on expanding drug treatment services in England to address offenders’ substance misuse issues, divert them on to effective community sentences and reduce drug-related crime and deaths. This £80 million will bolster the continuity of care for substance misuse treatment for prison leavers and we will continue to work closely with NHS England on rolling out RECONNECT services for those leaving prison to ensure that they engage with community health services.

We are committed to evaluating the current suite of accredited offender behaviour programmes and have a number of evaluations underway or being scoped. Where there is a sufficient number of people who have completed the programme and the necessary data is available to construct a meaningful comparison group, to help attribute any change to the intervention, the aim is to conduct good quality offending and reoffending impact studies to assess whether the programme is effective. We will be keeping the future direction of travel on accredited programmes under review using the best evidence.

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) keeps abreast of any research and reviews relevant to our rehabilitative work and will consider the Lancet Psychiatry paper as we would with any published study. Programmes that follow Risk, Need and Responsivity (RNR) and Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment (CBT) principles have been shown to be linked to a reduction in reoffending. There is considerable research highlighting the importance of RNR in promoting effective interventions, and evidence to support the use of CBT programmes that include the teaching of skills to reduce offending.

Therapeutic communities (TC) are part of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway, a joint venture with NHS England and Improvement. There are currently no plans to increase the number of prisons that operate TCs. The evidence and principles behind TC are at the heart of the OPD pathway which operates across prisons and probation. The Pathway continues to look for opportunities to invest in provision within available resources.

In July, this Government published the Beating Crime Plan which announced plans to tackle some of these key drivers of reoffending. This includes launching a £20m scheme across five probation regions to provide temporary accommodation for prison leavers at risk of homelessness. As set out in the Beating Crime Plan, we are also encouraging prison leavers to turn their backs on crime by securing employment. The Prison Service’s New Futures Network continues to broker partnerships between prisons and employers to improve employment opportunities for prisoners and prison leavers and we are increasing the number of DWP Prison Work Coaches across the estate, which means that prior to release, prisoners can access advice and support on employment and benefits. The Civil Service is also leading by example with the goal of recruiting 1,000 prison leavers by the end of 2023.

This is all part of wider investment this Government announced earlier this year: £70 million package to tackle some of these key drivers of repeat offending and £80 million on expanding drug treatment services in England to address offenders’ substance misuse issues, divert them on to effective community sentences and reduce drug-related crime and deaths. This £80 million will bolster the continuity of care for substance misuse treatment for prison leavers and we will continue to work closely with NHS England on rolling out RECONNECT services for those leaving prison to ensure that they engage with community health services.

We are committed to evaluating the current suite of accredited offender behaviour programmes and have a number of evaluations underway or being scoped. Where there is a sufficient number of people who have completed the programme and the necessary data is available to construct a meaningful comparison group, to help attribute any change to the intervention, the aim is to conduct good quality offending and reoffending impact studies to assess whether the programme is effective. We will be keeping the future direction of travel on accredited programmes under review using the best evidence.

We have strict safety measures in place to limit the spread of the virus. This means prisons and probation services are well prepared to take immediate action whenever cases or suspected cases are identified. Our decisive action prevented thousands of prisoners and staff becoming infected with the virus. These included minimising movement between prisons and introducing measures to shield the vulnerable, isolate those with symptoms, and quarantine new entrants to custody. All our actions have been informed by the advice of experts from PHE and will be kept under constant review.

Recognising the unique environment in prisons, we routinely test staff and prisoners to bolster our defences against the virus, and conduct mass testing in outbreak sites – meaning we can identify more cases, isolate them earlier and move quickly to contain outbreaks and protect the NHS.

The table below shows figures for the period 23 March 2020 to 31 January 2021, the most recent verified data for the listed prisons. Where values of positive cases of two or fewer are present they have been suppressed (~) in order to prevent disclosure of personal information.

Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Much of the data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic has been done at pace, with recording practices evolving as we understand more about the requirements and conditions we are facing.

We have strict safety measures in place to limit the spread of the virus. This means prisons and probation services are well prepared to take immediate action whenever cases or suspected cases are identified. Our decisive action prevented thousands of prisoners and staff becoming infected with the virus. These included minimising movement between prisons and introducing measures to shield the vulnerable, isolate those with symptoms, and quarantine new entrants to custody. All our actions have been informed by the advice of experts from PHE and will be kept under constant review.

Recognising the unique environment in prisons, we routinely test staff and prisoners to bolster our defences against the virus, and conduct mass testing in outbreak sites – meaning we can identify more cases, isolate them earlier and move quickly to contain outbreaks and protect the NHS.

The table below shows figures for the period 23 March 2020 to 31 January 2021, the most recent verified data for the listed prisons. Where values of positive cases of two or fewer are present they have been suppressed (~) in order to prevent disclosure of personal information.

Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Much of the data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic has been done at pace, with recording practices evolving as we understand more about the requirements and conditions we are facing.

We will carefully consider the report’s findings, which are based on investigations into the first wave of Covid-19 related deaths in prisons, as we continue to review and learn from our response throughout the pandemic. We will carry on working hard to protect the lives of staff and prisoners and cut crime behind bars. All our actions have been informed by the advice of experts from PHE and will be kept under constant review.

While the reports highlights some areas where responses could be improved, we note that the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman acknowledges the care and compassion prisoners and family members received from prison and healthcare staff.