Challenge of Social Distancing in Prisons Discussed

Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland today Tuesday 7th April,  told the Commons Justice Committee releasing up to 4,000 low-risk prisoners balances the fear of coronavirus spreading in prisons with maintaining public confidence about freeing convicts early. New powers introduced this week mean up to 4,000 could be released on licence conditions under orders to stay at home, and with electronic tags to monitor them so that they can be returned to prison if they don’t.

Howerver, there are concerns that releasing those prisoners will not be enough to prevent the spread of the virus within prisons, where 116 inmates were confirmed as testing positive within 43 prisons by Monday evening. The Chief Executive of the Prison Service, Dr Jo Farrar, confirmed to the  Committee that the prison population would, on present figures, have to be cut by between  10,000 and 15,000, from a current total of just under 83,000 in England and Wales, to allow all prisoners to live in a single cell.

That isn’t the Government’s aim now, though – prison population is expected to fall with fewer prisoners being jailed by the courts, normal departures from prison at the end of sentences, and plans in place to ‘cohort’ those who are, and are not, suffering from the virus, or who are particularly vulnerable.

Few prisoners have so far been released. They include six pregnant prisoners – with plans to release up to 70 pregnant women and mothers with babies. Other new measures to release up to 4,000 offenders assessed as low risk, and with accommodation to go to, are likely to kick in more strongly after the Easter weekend.

During a virtual online evidence session the Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland QC MP, told the Committee the corona pandemic had created “an emergency” in the country and that given the stresses the public faced because of it, they deserved peace of mind on the matter of early releases; those prisoners released early, he said, would be tagged with GPS devices as this “gives the public the reassurance they are looking for”.

The Justice Committee hearing with Robert Buckland took place virtually online because the MPs on the Committee were in their constituencies during the Parliamentary Easter Recess.

Meanwhile, intensive work is taking place across the wider House of Commons to ensure that the House can continue to scrutinise government actions during the pandemic.