706 (2024). Hon Dr Duncan Webb to the Minister of Corrections

706 (2024). Hon Dr Duncan Webb to the Minister of Corrections: Is every prisoner at Invercargill Prison accorded the right to one thirty minute visit of a private visitor every week as provided for in section 73 of the Corrections Act 2004?

Hon Mark Mitchell: I am advised that Corrections paused visits across the prison network in January 2022 in response to widespread community transmission of COVID-19. Like many other agencies and businesses, Corrections has also experienced a number of challenges when it comes to staffing. Corrections is making a concerted effort to address these challenges through recruitment and retention of frontline staff. The safety of the public, staff members and people in prison is Corrections’ top priority. With the exception of Rimutaka Prison, each prison site has resumed private visits at a limited capacity, or in full when staffing levels have enabled this to be done safely. Where private visits are only available at a limited capacity, prisons have expanded the use of AVL visits as an alternative option to face-to-face visits. Rimutaka Prison will reopen for face-to-face visits in the week of 11 March 2024. I refer the Member to the following link, which provides an up-to-date list of all prison sites’ current visit status: https://www.corrections.govt.nz/our_work/in_prison/staying_connected_with_people_in_prison/visits/prison_visit_updates I am advised that due to staffing challenges, prisoners at Christchurch Men’s Prison are being provided the opportunity for a one-hour face-to-face visit each fortnight, rather than a thirty-minute visit each week. I am also advised there a number of reasons why a person in prison may not receive a visit in any particular week. The entitlement to private visitors is subject to the Corrections Regulations 2005, which require private visitors to be approved as a person entitled to visit that prisoner, prior to the day of their visit. The person in prison must initiate the application process, the visitor must complete the application, and Corrections must carry out an approval process, including appropriate security checks, before someone can be approved as a private visitor. Therefore, at any one time a proportion of people in prison will not be eligible to receive a private visitor because: • They have chosen not to initiate an application process to have a private visitor approved. • The person or people they wish to have visit them have chosen not to complete an application for approval as a private visitor. • The person has not been in prison long enough for the application and approval processes to be carried out. • The person or people who have applied to be approved as private visitors have been denied approval for any of the reasons provided for in Corrections Regulations 2005. I am also advised that, in any week, a prisoner who is entitled to a private visitor may not receive one because: • They or their visitor wish to have contact through another option provided by the prison, such as ‘virtual visit’ using an audio visual link (AVL). • They or their visitor do not wish to have a visit in that particular week. • They or their visitor do not wish to or are not available to have a visit at the visiting times available at the prison. • Their visitor cancels a booked visit due to unforeseen circumstances. • The right to a visit is denied for one of the reasons provided in the Corrections Act 2004, including an emergency, or anything threatening the security of the prison or health and safety of any person. This is also my response to written questions 707 to 712 (2024) and 714 to 723 (2024).