Bishop of Gloucester asks Government about cell sharing, shielding and deaths from Covid-19 in prisons

On 16th June the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, received  written answers to three questions on Covid-19 in prisons.

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: HL4969 To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners (1) meet the criteria for being considered clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID-19, and (2) are currently following shielding guidelines, broken down by prison.

Lord Keen of Elie: NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for commissioning healthcare services in English prisons. Local Health Boards are responsible for prison healthcare services in Wales. Local prison healthcare services hold information on the number of prisoners considered clinically extremely vulnerable to Covid-19; we do not hold this information centrally.

The number of prisoners currently following shielding guidelines broken down by prison can be found below (data as of Friday, 29 May):

Prison	Number of prisoners currently shielding	Prison	Number of prisoners currently shielding
Askham Grange	9	Lancaster Farms	~
Bedford	9	Leeds	84
Berwyn	50	Leicester	9
Birmingham	~	Leyhill	17
Brinsford	5	Lindholme	15
Brixton	53	Liverpool	78
Buckley Hall	~	Long Lartin	~
Bullingdon	11	Low Newton	~
Channings Wood	11	Lowdham Grange	5
Chelmsford	11	Manchester	35
Dartmoor	27	Moorland	135
Deerbolt	~	New Hall	27
Doncaster	30	North Sea Camp	15
Dovegate	32	Norwich	40
Downview	~	Nottingham	22
Durham	18	Oakwood	9
Eastwood Park	17	Onley	8
Elmley	20	Parc	46
Exeter	9	Peterborough Female	12
Featherstone	12	Peterborough Male	13
Feltham	16	Portland	~
Ford	21	Ranby	30
Foston Hall	16	Rochester	13
Frankland	8	Rye Hill	41
Full Sutton	~	Stafford	64
Garth	4	Stocken	13
Gartree	5	Styal	19
Guys Marsh	~	Sudbury	7
Hatfield	10	Swansea	16
Hewell	62	Swinfen Hall	~
Hindley	5	Thorn Cross	4
Hollesley Bay	8	Usk	13
Holme House	32	Wakefield	22
Hull	28	Wealstun	117
Humber	18	Wetherby	~
Isle of Wight	27	Winchester	16
Kirkham	8	Woodhill	8
Kirklevington Grange	5	Wymott	317
		Total	1,892

Notes:

• The symbol ~ denotes suppressed values of 3 or fewer (and totals that would allow values of 3 or fewer to be calculated) to avoid the risk of identifying individuals.

Prisons not included in this list did not report having any prisoners shielding at the current time.

---

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: HL4968 To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners are currently sharing a cell with one or more others, broken down by prison.

Lord Keen of Elie: On arrival into custody, all prisoners’ suitability to share a cell is risk assessed. These assessments are based on numerous factors including index offence, health concerns and security information (such as beliefs and prejudices).

Since March, we have introduced strong measures to avoid thousands of prisoners and staff becoming infected with COVID-19. This includes restrictions on movement between jails, the early release of low-risk offenders and the temporary expansion of the prison estate. These measures have helped to contain the spread of the virus and limit deaths. This action has helped to reduce the prison population, allowing establishments to implement ‘compartmentalisation’.

We are installing over 1,000 temporary cells to increase space and help reduce the spread of the virus. These units are being placed where there are the highest number of shared cells, a lack of in-cell sanitation and where there are high numbers of vulnerable prisoners. We have also opened an Annex at HMP/YOI Rochester to hold up to 70 men.

As at 29 May 2020, 35% of the prison population are sharing cells holding two or more people and this is broken down by establishment in the table below. The detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system.

Prison	Total number of prisoners sharing cells	Proportion	Prison	Total number of prisoners sharing cells	Proportion
Altcourse	684	64%	Leicester	219	68%
Ashfield	152	37%	Lewes	176	33%
Askham Grange	0	0%	Leyhill	0	0%
Aylesbury	0	0%	Lincoln	422	71%
Bedford	242	68%	Lindholme	336	36%
Belmarsh	476	58%	Littlehey	134	12%
Berwyn	1,056	61%	Liverpool	412	59%
Birmingham	582	64%	Long Lartin	0	0%
Brinsford	290	53%	Low Newton	12	4%
Bristol	217	45%	Lowdham Grange	6	1%
Brixton	532	74%	Maidstone	52	9%
Bronzefield	104	23%	Manchester	284	39%
Buckley Hall	72	16%	Moorland	258	29%
Bullingdon	737	69%	New Hall	32	9%
Bure	10	2%	North Sea Camp	164	41%
Cardiff	398	58%	Northumberland	0	0%
Channings Wood	44	7%	Norwich	250	36%
Chelmsford	302	45%	Nottingham	402	48%
Coldingley	0	0%	Oakwood	810	41%
Cookham Wood	0	0%	Onley	154	22%
Dartmoor	0	0%	Parc	736	46%
Deerbolt	14	4%	Pentonville	668	72%
Doncaster	760	70%	Peterborough	398	47%
Dovegate	224	19%	Peterborough Female	74	27%
Downview	0	0%	Portland	128	26%
Drake Hall	41	17%	Prescoed	36	17%
Durham	744	82%	Preston	441	69%
East Sutton Park	86	98%	Ranby	322	33%
Eastwood Park	80	26%	Risley	178	17%
Elmley	683	62%	Rochester	218	35%
Erlestoke	64	13%	Rye Hill	158	24%
Exeter	334	71%	Send	0	0%
Featherstone	110	17%	Spring Hill	2	1%
Feltham	130	44%	Stafford	508	71%
Ford	0	0%	Standford Hill	0	0%
Forest Bank	801	58%	Stocken	240	23%
Foston Hall	142	46%	Stoke Heath	302	42%
Frankland	0	0%	Styal	235	62%
Full Sutton	0	0%	Sudbury	232	50%
Garth	22	3%	Swaleside	0	0%
Gartree	22	3%	Swansea	254	71%
Grendon	0	0%	Swinfen Hall	62	11%
Guys Marsh	98	23%	Thameside	680	62%
Hatfield	16	5%	The Mount	220	22%
Haverigg	0	0%	The Verne	21	4%
High Down	633	56%	Thorn Cross	36	11%
Highpoint	236	18%	Usk	207	84%
Hindley	248	44%	Wakefield	0	0%
Hewell	508	64%	Wandsworth	1,120	77%
Hollesley Bay	44	10%	Warren Hill	0	0%
Holme House	724	63%	Wayland	286	30%
Hull	555	57%	Wealstun	0	0%
Humber	260	27%	Werrington	0	0%
Huntercombe	208	45%	Wetherby	0	0%
Isis	246	42%	Whatton	112	14%
Isle Of Wight	156	15%	Whitemoor	0	0%
Kirkham	16	3%	Winchester	238	50%
Kirklevington Grange	0	0%	Woodhill	24	5%
Lancaster Farms	120	23%	Wormwood Scrubs	601	56%
Leeds	746	75%	Wymott	16	2%
Grand total				27,845	35%

---

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: HL4967 To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) men, and (2) women, have died in prison, or while under probation services, from natural causes that may have been exacerbated by COVID-19.

Lord Keen of Elie: We are working hard to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the justice system as part of the national plan to protect the NHS and save lives. In our prisons and in the community, we are implementing a range of measures to reduce the spread of the transmission of the virus and the numbers of lives sadly lost. This has included the implementation of restricted prison regimes, the early release of low-risk offenders, temporary expansion of the prison estate and the reduction in the number of face-to-face probation meetings.

As of 5pm on Friday, 5 June, we are aware of 21 men and 2 women in prison and 13 men and 2 women under probation supervision who have died from natural causes that may have been exacerbated by contracting COVID-19.