Covid 19 and prisons – latest info

October 5th:

The 4 stage process is gradually changing the status of prisons:

6 prisons have reached Stage 1 – this requires minimal Covid-19 restrictions and therefore enables greater levels of regime activity to be provided.
The majority are at Stage 2 “green”, while 23 prisons remain at Stage 3 “amber”. The good news is that there are no prisons in Stage 4 “red”.

It would appear that the procedure to progress involves individual governors applying to the ‘HMPPS Covid-19 Gold Command’ for approval to have their prison categorized toward the ultimate objective of stage 1.

However, the changes that will be implemented at stage 1 will not necessarily be linear and therefore HMPPS is not expecting to see the same changes everywhere. The framework provides prison governors with a series of principles and design considerations, including “the delivery of purposeful activity to respond to the needs, risks and strengths of individuals in prisons”.

Prisoners and OPVs alike look forward to the time when visiting can get back to normal.

The MoJ report on Covid-19 in prisons summarising the period from March 2020 to September 2021 can be read here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1023821/HMPPS_COVID19_Sep21_Pub.pdf