Rejected petition allow prisons to have a video link in place of visitation rights

Rejected on 5 June 2020

I would like to put forward a proposal to allow prisoners in HMP Oakwood and surrounding prisons to allow for visitation rights to be granted via a video link : ie Face time or Skype in place of the face to face meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic .

Prisoners should be granted there fundamental right to allow visitation for family members through a video link as there is no certainty as to when this lockdown safeguard placement will be Uplifted. During this time prisoner should be allowed to communicate with family members through this video link to help replace the face to face meetings as this is one aim to help provide support and mental stability to prisoners during this pandemic.

Why was this petition rejected?

We can't publish petitions when the request is something that's already happening or something that has been announced since you started your petition.

We think your petition is covered by Government or Parliament action already. If you'd like something else, you could start a new petition clearly explaining what it is.

Since you started your petition the Government has announced that family video calls are being introduced at prisons and young offender institutions across England and Wales: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/secure-video-calls-to-help-prisoners-maintain-family-ties

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you find out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.