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Coronavirus (Covid-19): The impact on prisons Contents

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1Prison Regime Changes

9.The Ministry and HMPPS are working closely with Public Health England, the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care to manage the challenges prisons face.89 The Prison System has been placed in “command mode”, meaning that the response to a major incident can be coordinated nationally.10 Mr Buckland told the Committee in March:

“We have already stood up the criminal justice gold command … it is the meeting place for all agencies - police, probation and other agencies - to come together to work out what the challenges are, and to make sure that all parts are talking to each other so that we are getting communication”.11

Changes to the prison regime and time out of cell

10.A number of changes to the prison regime have restricted the movement of prisoners. On 24 March 2020, following the Prime Minister’s announcement of a UK lockdown, Dr Jo Farrar, Chief Executive, HMPPS, told the Committee:

“Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, we have moved today to an exceptional delivery model in prisons. That means that more people in prison will have more time in cells… From today, they will spend more time in their cells, but we will be making sure that people come out for meals, to make phone calls to family or other people that they need to phone, and to have their health attended to and to take showers. We will also be making arrangements for people to exercise in the open air with proper social distancing.”12

11.Prison regime changes mean that prisoners are spending more time in their cells and are no longer able to take part in activities such as using the gym, going to worship or visiting the library. Only essential workers are able to continue with their jobs (such as kitchen staff or wing cleaners).13 HMPPS have said that those no longer able to undertake employment will still be paid.14 Release on Temporary License (ROTL) has been suspended, except where the prisoner working is a key worker, or the temporary release is on compassionate grounds or in accordance with a new temporary release scheme (discussed in the next chapter).

12.Education provision in the prison setting is minimal, consisting primarily of in-cell work packs. Many education departments have closed, and education providers have withdrawn from prisons. Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, in all of his recent reports on short scrutiny visits (Long-term and high security prisons,15 Category C Training Prisons,16 Local Prisons,17 Prisons holding women18 and Young Offenders Institutions holding children19) has found that education provision across the prisons inspected was variable, and that face-to-face education had been largely suspended in most prisons. For example, at HMP Bronzefield, some limited face-to-face education was provided at cell doors20 and HMP Parc was able to plan and deliver limited face-to-face education that complied with social distancing.21

Reaction to regime changes and time out of cell

13.Concerns have been raised about the effect the restricted prison regime may have on individuals. Peter Clarke in his April 2020, Report on short scrutiny visits to local prisons notes that those inspected were large and busy prisons that present considerable management challenges even in less exceptional times and stated that “it was a credit to the approach of staff and skilled crisis management by senior managers that all the prisons were stable”.22 However, commenting on the conditions prisoners were living in, he said:

“The vast majority [of prisoners] were locked up for nearly the whole day with usually no more than half an hour out of their cells. We found some examples of even greater restrictions. In one prison, a small number of symptomatic prisoners had been isolated in their cells without any opportunity to come out for a shower or exercise for up to 14 days.”23

14.The Howard League emphasise the severity of the current prison regime, stating that “conditions are consistent with, or very close to, international definitions of solitary confinement (22 hours or more alone each day)”.24 Dame Anne Owers, National Chair of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), in a letter to the Committee states that “there is considerable inconsistency in relation to time out of cell, which does not appear explicable by the function or lay-out of the prison, with some prisons providing as little as 30 minutes a day out of cell, or exercise only every other day”.25 The Independent Monitoring Board have urged the Ministry of Justice to set out “clear and centrally determined expectations of the minimum time out of cell and activity to be provided, with any exceptions requiring justification”.26

15.The Committee recognise the necessity of the measures introduced to minimise the spread of the virus and save lives and commend staff and prisoners for adapting to these changes. However, we do not believe that the current regime is sustainable in the long term and are concerned about the effect this may have on the wellbeing and rehabilitation of individual prisoners.

16.We are not clear as to why there is such wide variance across the estate in type of regime and time out of cell. We agree with the Independent Monitoring Board and recommend that the Ministry of Justice set out clear expectations of the minimum time out of cell and activity to be provided at each phase of recovery. This is not currently clearly set out in the COVID-19: National Framework for Prisons and Services.

Mental health concerns

17.Significant concern has been expressed about the effect prison regime lockdown may have on the mental health and wellbeing of a prisoner. Before the Covid-19 outbreak, the latest Safety in Custody Statistics for England and Wales demonstrated that self-harm incidents in the 12 months to December 2019 had reached a record high, up 14% from the figure for the previous 12 months.27 The number of individuals self-harming increased by 3%, and the number of self-harm incidents per individual by 11% over the same period. There is concern that changes to regime as a result of Covid-19 may exacerbate the mental health and wellbeing issues of many in the prison system.

18.Dame Anne Owers notes that while Independent Monitoring Boards continue to report a largely compliant prisoner population and some positive initiatives in many prisons, there are concerns for both the current and recovery phase. Dame Anne states that “a number of prisoners are now starting to report an increase in self-harm and self-inflicted deaths, and there are also some spikes in violence, often associated with ‘hooch’”.28

19.Others have raised similar concerns about the impact restricted regimes are having on prisoners. INQUEST, in a briefing to the Committee, notes that “More restricted regimes as a result of COVID-19, leading to increased isolation, anxiety and uncertainty, alongside restrictions on family visits and potentially more oppressive conditions, also raise concerns about the risk of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm across detention”.29 In May 2020, the Guardian reported that since lockdown conditions were introduced there had been 16 self-inflicted deaths recorded in prisons in England and Wales; five of which were recorded over a six-day period.30 The Criminal Justice Alliance in a briefing to the Committee, states that “clearer plans must be published, as part of the Exceptional Delivery Models, which include actions to mitigate trauma and improve mental health and wellbeing”.31

20.The Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody, in their May 2020 report ‘”Keep talking, stay safe”: A rapid review of prisoners’ experiences under Covid-19’32 reviewed messages from around 200 prisoners, include 19 women, across 55 prisons and found that the current regime restrictions were “having a negative impact on many prisoners’ mental health and wellbeing. Prisoners described going through a ‘rough time’, of self-harming due to stress and fear that the virus will spread”. One prisoner spoke of their experience, stating that:

“All the double cells have pad mates to talk to. They’ve got activities to do like playing chess. All single cells get nothing. I’m talking to walls at the moment which is affecting my mental health. We’re in desperate need for some stimulation for our brains.”33

21.When asked by the Committee, what was being done to monitor mental health, self-harm and suicide, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, rt hon, Robert Buckland QC MP, states that “I have told the Committee before that every loss of a life or the taking of a life by self-harm is reported to me individually as soon as it happens, so they are more than mere statistics to me.”34 Mr Buckland further notes that “We are busy communicating with our prisoners to make sure that they know what is to come and that, as lockdown restrictions change in the community, we can reflect that as well in the prison estate. Communication is everything if we are to minimise the mental health effects on prisoners.”35

22.The Committee recognise the severity of the current regime in prisons and commend both staff and prisoners for responding and adapting to current circumstances. We are pleased to hear reports that the prison population have been largely compliant with changes made, but we share concerns about the potential long-term impact current restrictions will have on the health and wellbeing of prisoners themselves. We are unclear what additional support is being provided to those struggling with their mental health. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, prisons already faced alarmingly increased levels of self-harm and the current situation in prisons may serve to make that situation worse.

23.We recommend that the Ministry of Justice set out what additional mental health support is available for prisoners and what their long-term plan is to mitigate the effect lockdown may have on the mental health of prisoners should prisons remain in this current phase for a prolonged period.

Suspension of visits

24.HMPPS decided to temporarily suspend prison visits from 24 March 2020. Dr Jo Farrar told the Committee that HMPPS would be making more phones available: “60% of prison cells have in-cell telephony. For those who do not, we are ensuring that people have access either to handheld devices, which we have secured, or to phones on the landing that they can use”.36

25.In a letter to Sir Bob Neill, Chair of the Committee, in May 2020, Lucy Frazer QC MP, Minister of State for Justice set out measures introduced to enable prisoners to maintain family ties. Following a successful trial of secure video calls at HMP Berwyn, the Minister confirmed that these calls will “be made available at 10 establishments with a wider roll out in the coming weeks”.37 Video calls would be provided through secure laptops in a designated room in each establishment and each prisoner allowed one video call per month, lasting up to 30 minutes. The MoJ was “considering a longer-term solution for video calls in line with the recommendations of Lord Farmer’s 2017 Review, and further Review for Women (2019), focusing on those who do not receive face-to-face visits under normal circumstances”.38

26.In addition to the implementation of secure video calling, the Minister confirmed that 900 locked mobile phone handsets had been rolled-out for use in establishments without access to in-cell telephony. Prisoners had been provided with additional pin credit to allow more contact with families. Prisoners in the open estate were allowed controlled access to personal mobile phones.

27.It is vital that prisoners are able to maintain contact with family and friends, particularly at such an uncertain time. Family contact is essential to a prisoner’s wellbeing and resettlement, and we welcome measures taken to ensure that prisoners are able to maintain contact with family. We welcome the decision to provide 900 locked mobile handsets, and we are pleased to note that the trial of secure video calls at HMP Berwyn was successful and will now be available at 10 establishments.

28.While the secure video calling service is a temporary measure implemented in direct response to the changes across the estate resulting from Covid-19, the Committee believe there is scope for this service to be developed in the long-term and rolled out further across the prison estate. We recommend that the Ministry of Justice make the secure video calling service available permanently across the rest of the prison estate. The Ministry of Justice should provide costings for such extension of this service and set out a timeframe for when this service will be expanded beyond the 10 establishments due to receive it, and how establishments will be prioritised.

COVID-19: National Framework for Prisons and Services

29.While lockdown restrictions in the community are beginning to ease, prisons remain in a state of lockdown, with severe restrictions in place. Prisons in England and Wales have been in lockdown since 24 March 2020, a period of 15 weeks at the time of writing.

30.On 2 June 2020, the MoJ and HMPPS published a National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services, setting out a conditional roadmap for what the easing of Covid-19 restrictions will mean in practice.39 MoJ state that: “It will not be a case of a straightforward return to normality, and in some areas, it may never be possible to provide the same standards in prisons while public health restrictions remain necessary”.40

31.The MoJ have set out three overarching objectives that will guide decision making: Preservation of life; Maintain security, stability and safety; Provide sufficient capacity. A number of principles are set out that are relevant to achieving the overarching objectives in the current context. These principles include:

• “Prisons are closed settings holding many vulnerable people and so inherently high risk. The timing of changes may not mirror developments outside prisons because of the heightened risks. The easing of restrictions in the community will increase the risk of new incursions of the disease through new prisoners, staff and others, and we will need to respond accordingly.
• Where certain activities can resume–such as social visits or education–we should expect them to do so with considerable restrictions and adaptations (including reduced capacity) in the interests of safety, although we will look for innovative ways to deliver them. Progress will be slow and incremental, and restrictions may need to be re-imposed in the event of local outbreaks.
• Our plans will need to be flexible enough to accommodate the very different circumstances and situations of different prisons (the appropriate regime will be very different between a YCS establishment, a High-Security prison, a female Open prison and so on). As health is a devolved area, in some places government guidelines may vary between England and Wales and prisons may at times follow different health instructions.”41

32.The MoJ also set out 5 regime stages (Complete Lockdown, Lockdown, Restrict, Reduce, Prepare), the conditions to operate at each stage, and what the prison regime could look like operating at each stage. No target dates have been set for the prison estate, or individual establishments, to move to less restricted regime states, since decisions to do so must be based on an “objective and rigorous assessment of the data and evidence about what is appropriate”.42 The MoJ states that: “the operational prison structure at Gold level will take the final decision on what stage is most appropriate for each individual establishment”.43

33.Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, in evidence to the Committee raises concerns about the process in place to remove restrictions. He states that:

“It is about a process to remove restrictions rather than about freeing up and enabling innovation and mitigation, which is what it needs to do. It talks about autonomy for governors, but when you look at the processes that governors will have to go through to implement recovery plans, they have to go through three layers of authorisation above them, including at the very top the so-called gold level, where there will have to be authority given for a detailed implementation plan. How it is going to work in terms of autonomy at the local level when there has to be detailed authority given centrally is not at all clear to me, I have to say.”44

34.In evidence to the Committee on 23 June 2020, Dr Jo Farrar, Chief Executive, HMPPS, states that:

“We are very keen to move to the next stage. At the moment, we are developing a number of exceptional delivery models for stage 3. We are agreeing those this week with the trade unions. Prison governors are preparing their local plans to ensure that they are ready to open up. As soon as those are written and signed off, when we have an agreement with the trade unions, and Public Health England is comfortable for individual prisons to move forward, we can start to relax the regime. We hope that will happen within the next few weeks.”45

35.Given that prisons have been in a state of lockdown for 15 weeks, we are pleased to hear that Exceptional Delivery Models for stage 3 are being developed and that there are hopes to relax the regime in the next few weeks. We recommend that the Ministry and HMPPS keep the Committee updated on their progress, including what prisons will be transitioning and in what timeframe.

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