Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of suicide prevention training for staff in police custody suites.

The Government is committed to preventing deaths in or following police custody, including suicides both in custody and following release.

The College of Policing’s 'Vulnerability in Custody' training package, launched in 2022, seeks to improve the consistency and quality of custody training, focusing on identifying vulnerability and managing risk. This training was developed in response to recommendations made in the Independent Review of Deaths and Serious Incidents in Police Custody led by Dame Elish Angiolini. The College is undertaking an evaluation of the training package which will be completed in June.

The Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, College of Policing, and key health and voluntary sector stakeholders to improve support for those at risk of suicide following release from police custody.