Oral Answers to Questions

Jim Cunningham Excerpts

Tuesday 6th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Rory Stewart]

I am very pleased that this has been raised. As you will be aware, Mr Speaker, almost 40% of prison officers traditionally came from the armed forces, but that number has fallen. We are now working very closely with the Ministry of Defence to explain what an interesting career this can be, and we are doing a lot of advertising. But the most important thing we can do is remind people that, as we have all seen when meeting prison officers, although it is a very challenging and sometimes quite difficult career it also can be a deeply fulfilling one, and we would like to encourage many more people to come forward into the profession.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

15. What effect does the Minister think the shortage of prison officers has on the number of suicides and the amount of self-harm in prisons?

[Rory Stewart]

There are a number of drivers of suicide and self-harm, of which the number of staff is one. There are other questions around the estate, but probably the largest single driver that we have seen since 2011 is the use of new psychotropic drugs that are creating extraordinary psychotic episodes and leading to a direct increase in violence. We must address those drugs.