Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Layla Moran and Phillip Lee

Tuesday 23rd January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)]

In the 18 months prior to May 2017, three openly transgender women took their own lives while they were in custody in England. What is being done to ensure that staff have the right training and, critically, that prisoners have the right mental health support to head off such tragic events?

[Dr Phillip Lee]

The hon. Lady is right that such events are tragic. We are working extremely hard on training staff to recognise the particular needs of transgender offenders. The challenge for the system is that they are a relatively small number of people spread across a number of prisons. We are making some progress, but there is more to do.