12/10/2022
Cachella Smith
Brandon Lewis has said that transgender prisoners with male genitalia should no longer be held in women’s prisons.
The reforms on policies as to where to house inmates will also apply to transgender women who have been convicted of a sex offence.
It follows Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis telling the Conservative Party conference last week : “It cannot be right that transgender prisoners, when convicted of serious sexual offences or those who have not had reassignment surgery, are housed in a general women’s estate.
“This will end – we have a duty of care to all those behind bars. One case of a sex attack or an inappropriate relationship formed with a female prisoner by a transgender inmate is one too many and we’ve had too many in recent years.”
In a written statement to Parliament which was published yesterday, Brandon Lewis set out the reforms to the policy for the allocation of transgender prisoners.
He clarified that the reforms would not work as “blanket rules” but that exemptions to the new rules would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Further detail will be announced in the updated transgender prisoners policy framework before the end of the year.
He also announced plans which could see thousands more burglars, robbers and other thieves being made to wear a GPS tag after being freed from jail.
The expansion of a Ministry of Justice scheme, being tested by 19 police forces in England and Wales, to include offenders serving shorter sentences could mean a further 2,000 will be monitored over the next three years, according to a separate written statement to MPs.
As of October 26, the policy will apply to criminals who have served sentences of 90 days or more.
Electronic monitoring could be a compulsory condition for up to 12 months.