Protecting the rights of those who remain in prison during a pandemic

The last Justice and Fairness blogpost discussed how, in the middle of a pandemic, the rights of people in prison are more important than ever. Last week’s post focussed on the need to release people from prison in order to relieve pressure on the system. This week’s post focusses on the daily experiences of those who remain inside.

Over the weekend, the government announced that they would release up to 4,000 people who are within 2 months of their release date over the coming weeks. This seemed to be a significant step which paved the way for much-needed further action. However it is becoming clear that the restrictions and complicated requirements of the release scheme may mean that only a tiny proportion of those 4,000 who might be eligible will actually be released. We have just written to the Secretary of State for Justice outlining what more needs to be done. But even if the government does go further in releasing people, what about those who will inevitably remain inside? Their rights and their health – and, consequently, the public health of the wider community – must be protected too.

Since the lockdown began two weeks ago, we have heard multiple reports – both from people in prison through our legal adviceline and from concerned relatives – of the new constraints that people in prison are living under. Unlike the constraints that the rest of us are living with, which might be difficult, or tedious, or lonely, but help to protect us from the spread of disease, the constraints that people in prison are living under often do precisely the opposite and put them directly in the way of harm. Failing to protect vulnerable people in prison from the spread of disease risks breaching the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Batchelet, warned last week.

Prison healthcare has long been a source of serious concern. In 2018, a report by the Health and Social Care Committee concluded that “the Government is failing in this duty of care towards people detained in prisons in England. Too many prisoners remain in unsafe, unsanitary conditions that fall far short of the standards we should expect.” We have heard multiple reports of shortages of hygiene facilities, cleaning products and PPE in prisons. One concerned relative told us that:

there is no disinfectant, no gloves for staff or cleaners, no hand gel and the work parties are still moving between different sections, making a mockery of lockdown and isolating any contamination.

Prisoners aged over 60 are the fastest growing group within the prison population and healthcare provision in prisons has not been able to keep up. A Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) review in 2017 identified “unacceptable examples of poor care of the elderly and dying in prison” and reported that “there is still no properly resourced older prisoner strategy, to drive consistent provision across prisons” despite the PPO having called repeatedly for such a strategy.

The provision of care in prisons has been put under even more strain by the coronavirus pandemic. We have heard reports of people over 70 with conditions such as emphysema (a progressive disease of the lungs) who will not be released following the government’s announcement because they still have four (rather than two) months left to serve in prison. We have also heard several reports of people in prison with asthma – teenagers among them – who made requests for inhalers before the Covid-19 lockdown but are still waiting to receive them. This is not unusual: people in prison often have to wait a long time to get their health concerns acted upon. As one teenager put it:

It’s much harder being in jail now. They think two people on my wing have the virus – they are not allowed out their cell but I am worried I will get it and I have asthma. Some people have to share cells.

Another young person in prison told the Howard League that:

It’s scary, there are a couple of cases on every wing. It’s not safe for a person like me who’s asthmatic.

Coronavirus places even more pressure on already over-stretched resources and make it harder to protect vulnerable people – inside and outside prison – from the spread of disease. The government need to take swift action to reduce the prison population so that those who remain can receive prompt and effective care.

Most people in prison are now spending 23 hours out of 24 in their cells with virtually no activities or interventions. We have heard reports of education sheets being handed out to children under the door. One child in prison told the Howard League’s legal team that these sheets contained some Maths and English exercises that would take him between 20 to 25 minutes a day to complete. There was no support with this work. We have heard of adult prisoners who have been supplied with colouring books and crayons in order to pass the time. As one distressed relative put it:

[My partner] gets 15 minutes on the yard a day then he’s locked back up until the next day it’s disgusting. He was handed 6 colouring pencils and a colouring book yesterday to keep him occupied! He’s 32 not 2!!

Most people in prison report getting between half an hour to an hour of outdoor exercise a day, limited access to showers and handwashing facilities and a decline in the quality of prison food due to kitchen staff shortages. We have heard reports of prisons where no fresh fruit or vegetables are available. A young person in prison gave us this account of daily life under lockdown:

They get us up at 7.45 in the morning, but you don’t sleep properly anyway, your 25 minutes out of cell start from them shouting you awake, not when you get to the social room, it doesn’t leave enough time for a shower and to get outside. The day drags out.

Relatives have spoken of their deep concerns for the mental health of those imprisoned in these conditions. In the first two months of this year, eleven people have already taken their own lives in prison. Standards of care and nourishment must be improved for those that remain inside.

The government could start by distributing more mobile phones. Severely limited access to the outside world is another enormous problem for prisoners in lockdown. The prison service recently distributed 900 mobile phones across the 57 prisons that do not already have in-cell telephony. The prison population currently stands at 82,456 – 900 phones are nowhere near enough. These handsets will be shared between prisoners and between cells which is neither fair nor hygienic. People in prison should not have to choose between contacting their families (Lord Farmer’s report last year revealed the enormously important role maintaining family contacts has on reducing reoffending) and contracting a potentially fatal illness.

It is crucial that the cumbersome processes and bureaucratic delays that characterise prison life at the best of times do not compound the public health crisis we are facing. In one especially Kafka-esque example, we have heard about a man who came down with all the symptoms of coronavirus while out on temporary release from prison. Despite his illness, he was required to return to prison and had to take public transport in order to do so. Another prisoner who was also due to return to prison after being out on temporary release told us:

I’m due to return to a now locked down camp where I will have no chance of self-distancing or isolation. I have to share a small room with another inmate and one shower and three toilets with 40 plus not to mention a canteen servery with 200.

All of this is happening at time when there is barely any independent scrutiny or monitoring of what goes in prisons. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons has suspended almost all of its prison inspections in line with social distancing measures and the work of the Independent Monitoring Boards has been greatly restricted. The reports that we are receiving from people in prison and their relatives are all the more important for that reason. Now, more than ever, we must listen to the voices of those in prison and take swift action.

Comments

• katherien gleeson says:

  20 Apr 2020 at 4:22 pm

  We need a strong justice Minister and Parole Board The parole board say they focused on whether a prisoner would represent a significant risk to the public . The same Parole Board that let out 2 of the worst prisoners by mistake. And now there is a further Administration error Prisoners were mistakenly let out of two open prisons in Gloucestershire and Derbyshire, and a young offenders institution in south-east London. Justice Secretary Robert Buckland had previously said rigorous checks would take place before inmates were let out on the scheme. Justice Secretary Robert Buckland is the only danger to the public life i see.
  I have relatively low confidence in this Minister after the deaths of hundreds of IPP prisoners. And now with the virus the Minister Robert Buckland would of been aware of social distancing” and the lack of global supply of masks but failed to act to get prisoners out, unlike other countries We are seeing more deaths due to this virus so now are the government going to hide the statistics like they done with the IPP prisoners, aprox10 years after the fact we new the scale of deaths

  I would not leave a dog in a cage with other infected dogs so why would we do this to humans.
  Families are out of their minds with worry like prisoners we don’t know who the carriers so why would government risk a life.

  In a week where it was confirmed that the prison population in France has been reduced by 10,000 people in six weeks and Myanmar decided to release 25,000 prisoners early
  Prison population in England & Wales. On Friday 17th, the prison population stood at 81,454 – a drop of 1,875 individuals compared to 31st January, the date of the first death from coronavirus in the UK.

  Reply
  • allyson says:

    15 May 2020 at 1:00 pm

    Hello Katherien i agree totally with everything you have said justice minister Robert Buckland has no idea what is truly happening inside prisoners during this pandemic .the treatment of prisoners is diabolical everything that Mr Buckland has supposedly put forward to happen in prisons during Covid 19 is not happening its all just politics. my partner is an inmate at Standford Hill they have no social distancing happening no ppe the food well it is minima land absolutely awful . My partner is in the work out scheme at his original job before he was incarcerated and he is listed as a key worker and also has a government letter stating this but they are refusing to let him go to work even though our PM states he can .
    Maybe Mr Buckland should take timeout to actually go to a prison and see what is really happening rather than just throwing things out there that he has know idea about

    Reply
• Jez says:

  9 Apr 2020 at 11:09 pm

  A clear picture of how our prisons are sliding down a slope from which it will be difficult to recover from. Once we leave the EU I cannot help wonder whether the government will stop inspections all together as the only reason we have them in the first place is because it is a requirement of being a member of the EU. The may of course keep them and instead not publish the full report. We appear to be heading for a US style system where sentences get longer and longer and of course inmates become more alienated with society. Crime goes up not down, crimes become more horrific as criminals become more desperate. I also have a real issue with negotiating a trade deal with a country that still has the death sentence 😔. Some of our EU neighbors have made massive advances in reducing crime and reducing prison numbers.

  Reply
  • K kelly says:

    13 Apr 2020 at 5:20 pm

    No one is listening

    Reply