Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:07 pm on 30 June 2021.
Minister, a recent article in The Lancet highlighted the high number of deaths from coronavirus in prisons, and this is despite offenders being locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day to stop the spread of the virus. This will be of particular concern in areas around open prisons in Wales, such as the Prescoed prison in Usk in my region of South Wales East. Would the Minister please update us about how she's working with the UK Government Minister and the prison service on a plan to tackle the spread of coronavirus in our prisons, and also how she's ensuring that inmates and communities around prisons are being protected?