Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Crown immunity for HM Prison Service on the adequacy of the mitigation of systemic issues identified following deaths in prisons.

Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners. Deaths in custody are subject to a police investigation on behalf of the Coroner in all cases and, where necessary, a criminal investigation, an investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman; and a Coroner’s inquest (before a jury in non-natural deaths).

After each death that is apparently self-inflicted and any other unexpected death that is not obviously from natural causes, an internal Early Learning Review is conducted to identify lessons that can immediately be learned in order to improve local practice and prevent further death.

HMPPS also provides additional support to prisons where there has been a cluster of self-inflicted deaths, and fund Samaritans to provide support to prisoners and staff.

We are looking into the issue of Crown Immunity, although it is an incredibly complex matter.