The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Home
Office and Department of Health and Social Care, has
appointed Deborah Coles, Professor Seena Fazel, Professor
Jennifer Shaw, Jenny Talbot OBE and John Wadham as Members
of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody 1
July 2018 to 30 June 2021.
The Ministerial Council on Deaths in Custody formally
commenced operation on 1 April 2009 and is jointly
sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, the Department of
Health and Social Care, and the Home Office. The Council
consists of 3 tiers:
- Ministerial Board on Deaths in Custody
- Independent Advisory Panel (IAP)
- Practitioner and Stakeholder Group
IAP forms the second tier of the Ministerial Council on
Deaths In Custody. The remit of the Council (and IAP)
covers deaths which occur in prisons, in or following
police custody, immigration detention, the deaths of
residents of approved premises and the deaths of those
detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA) in hospital.
The role of IAP, an arms-length body, is to provide
independent advice and expertise to the Ministerial Board.
It provides guidance on policy and best practice across
sectors and makes recommendations to Ministers and
operational services. IAP’s aim is to bring about a
continuing and sustained reduction in the number and rate
of deaths in all forms of state custody in England and
Wales.
Deborah Coles is Director of INQUEST. She is an experienced
strategic thinker and lobbyist for social justice with
particular expertise on the investigation of deaths in
custody and detention and the treatment of bereaved people
in the UK and internationally.
Seena Fazel is a Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at the
University of Oxford, a Wellcome Trust Senior Research
Fellow in Clinical Science, and honorary consultant
forensic psychiatrist for Oxford Health NHS Foundation
Trust. He works clinically in a local prison. His main
research interests are on suicidal behaviour in prisoners,
mental health of prisoners, and risk assessment in criminal
justice and mental health.
Jennifer Shaw is Professor of Forensic Psychiatry,
University of Manchester and Honorary Consultant
Psychiatrist Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS
Foundation Trust. Her research interests include suicide
primarily within the criminal justice system, homicide and
the mental health of prisoners. She has over thirty years
experience working clinically in the NHS.
Jenny Talbot has undertaken significant research on people
with learning disabilities in the criminal justice system;
she works for the Prison Reform Trust
John Wadham is a human rights lawyer and currently chair of
the National Preventative Mechanism set up by the United
Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against
Torture, which brings together 21 statutory bodies
monitoring detention in all forms of state custody in the
UK.
John Wadham has stood as a candidate - for the
Uttlesford District Council 2015 and spoken at one public
meeting in Saffron Walden Town Hall in 2015 as Labour
Candidate.
The rest of the new members declared no political activity.
