§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to develop a national strategy to deal with elderly prisoners; [145625]
(2) if he will make a statement on prison resources directed at the rehabilitation of prisoners aged 65 years and above.[145632]
§ Paul GogginsAt the present time there are no plans for the Prison Service to put in place a separate national strategy for older prisoners. The current policy is to assess all prisoners' individual needs through sentence planning. This includes taking account of any requirements related to a prisoner's age.
There are no specific resources allocated to the rehabilitation of older prisoners. However through a system of sentence planning, the Prison Service ensures that all prisoners undertake activities necessary to reduce their risk to the public on release and provides any necessary resettlement support