Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to
reduce the number of suicides in prisons in England and
Wales.
The Advocate-General for Scotland ( of Dirleton) (Con)
My Lords, every self-inflicted death in custody is a tragedy. We
continue to do all that we can to improve the safety of
prisoners. Our vision, set out in the Prisons Strategy White
Paper, includes plans to make prisons safer for staff and
prisoners. We have also announced additional funding to expand
the prison workforce to enable a greater focus on creating a
regime that supports safety.
(CB)
I thank the Minister for his reply. In the 12 months to last
September, there were 93 deaths by suicide in prison, an increase
of 22% on the previous year. This is paralleled by the huge
increase in self-harming in prison, which is at 10 times the rate
of the wider community. One of the factors in this is of course
the extent of mental health problems among prisoners—nine out of
10—and the slowness with which they are referred to the
appropriate medical services. What steps have the Government
taken to speed up the process whereby those with mental health
problems are pointed in the direction of those who can offer them
help, so that they do not spend so long in isolation in
segregated units?
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, we published the National Partnership Agreement for
Health and Social Care for England on 23 February 2023, setting
out a shared priority to deliver safe, decent and effective care,
and improve health outcomes for people in prison and on
probation. As part of the measures we have taken, new prison
officers are trained in measures to assess and identify persons
potentially at risk. The existing cohort of prison officers is
receiving additional training, as understanding of the complex
nature of this problem develops. There are increased facilities
for sharing knowledge so that individual insights are passed
between prison staff, the medical and psychological staff
assisting them and the prisoners themselves, because we have
measures to allow prisoners to mentor one another.
(Con)
My Lords, would my noble friend agree that the number of suicides
in prisons is likely to fall if we could reduce the number of
people with mental health issues being sent to prison and,
furthermore, if we could increase the amount of meaningful
out-of-cell activity offered to prisoners?
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, I agree wholeheartedly with both points raised by the
noble Viscount. The range of opportunities for activity outwith
the prison estate, and within the estate by way of leisure and
recreation, is an important matter that the Government are
looking at.
(Lab)
My Lords, it has been nearly a decade since the Minister for
Prisons asked me to undertake a review of the self-inflicted
deaths of young people in the prison estate. Since then, things
have got worse. The reality is that prisons are more overcrowded.
The very positive suggestions that the Minister made in answer to
the noble and right reverend Lord, , about how
people will be trained to provide support, will work only if
there are sufficient numbers of staff who stay sufficiently long
in the job for it to work.
The Minister has also just said that efforts are made for
rehabilitation, training and education. Again, if prisons are so
overcrowded and there are such staff shortages that people cannot
be escorted to the extracurricular activities he described, how
on earth is this going to work? Is not the reality that this
Government have lost control of prisons and of the fundamental
responsibility to rehabilitate people into society?
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, as of 30 September 2023, there were 23,058 prison
officers in bands 3 to 5. That is an important cohort, because
those are the bands who have access to prisoners in the areas and
respects of which the noble Lord has spoken. That is an increase
of 1,441 officers on the previous year, which amounts to an
increase of 6.7% in the number of officers in that cohort in full
employment.
(Con)
My Lords, one-third of all prison suicides occur very
early—within the first week in custody. Research shows that
isolation from relationships or a breakdown in communication can
play a decisive role. Prison receptions can be very chaotic
places and it can take days, rather than hours, to establish
contact with family members, who are also very worried. What are
the Government doing to improve care when people arrive in prison
and, in particular, to ensure that early contact with families is
made?
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that question and
for the informal discussion we had prior to Questions today. We
know that the risk of suicide can be higher when prisoners are on
remand and in the early days of their sentence, when the
experience of prison is new and shocking, or for that matter when
they have been recalled to custody. We have digitally streamlined
the reception processes to flag risk information earlier, in the
manner I was describing earlier to the noble Lord.
We are promoting supportive conversations between staff and
prisoners. All incoming prisoners are interviewed in reception
areas to assess their risk of self-harm. There is a risk
identification toolkit—a training measure for officers—which
helps staff assess risk effectively and provides appropriate
support to manage identified risk. We are rolling out a peer
support project—this is the sort of work I was discussing with
the noble Lord earlier—where prisoners mentor one another,
thereby, most importantly, inculcating supportiveness and
strengthening and encouraging self-worth.
(Lab)
My Lords, in recent weeks, I have met two young female prison
officers who have dealt with suicide and attempted suicide. We
have heard from the noble and right reverend Lord, , about the
increase in suicide and self-harm. My noble friend Lord Harris
alluded to the reduction in experience of prison officers. The
figures are that the number of prison officers with 10 years’ or
more experience fell from 34% to 28% in the 12 months to December
2023. Does the noble and learned Lord accept that these two facts
are linked? What is he doing to try to increase the length of
time that prison officers stay in the service?
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, as I said in response to a previous question, the
number of officers in key cohorts has increased over the past
year. As to the rest of the question that the noble Lord poses, I
do not have the information to hand but, with his indulgence, I
shall write to him, or have the Minister in the responsible
department write to him, on the subject.
My Lords, the recently announced proposed change to the recall
period for serving IPP sentences is welcomed. What assessment has
the Minister made of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s
recommendation that prisoners’ IPP status should be considered as
a potential risk factor for suicide and self-harm?
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, I am grateful to the right reverend Prelate for that
question. IPP prisoners are a matter of concern to many noble
Lords. It remains a priority for the Government that all those on
IPP sentences receive the support they need to progress towards
safe release from custody. The Government continue to focus on
the rehabilitation of IPP prisoners through a refreshed and
updated action plan, published in April 2023, providing a robust
and effective sentence plan tailored to individual needs and
recognising the difficulties, of which the right reverend Prelate
is aware, of persons facing a very long period of incarceration
and the attendant difficulties that that causes them
emotionally.
(LD)
My Lords, the House will understand the answers given by the
noble and learned Lord in relation to the training of individual
officers, but that does not deal with the problem of increasing
suicides attributable to really serious staff shortages.
Increased numbers of staff have to be taken alongside increasing
prisoner populations. So what is being done to improve the
detection and diagnosis of mental ill-health of prisoners and,
crucially, what steps are being taken to improve or reduce
waiting times for psychiatric treatment and placement of
prisoners in hospitals where hospital placements are needed for
mentally ill prisoners?
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, most prisoners with mental health needs are able to
receive the care and treatment that they need within prison. The
group to which the noble Lord refers, those with acute problems
requiring treatment in hospital, have to be referred, assessed
and transferred to hospital under the Mental Health Act. We are
determined to ensure that these transfers take place in a timely
manner. We are working with health and justice partners and will
continue to work to provide a non-statutory independent role
designed to improve oversight and to monitor delivery of the
28-day time limit for transfers set out in NHS England’s good
practice guidance. There is also a pilot health and justice hub
in the north-east of England, improving the way in which courts,
health services and prisons work together at local levels better
to support those with severe mental illness, with a view to
smoothing their pathway into the correct treatment.
