Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department consulted on the contents the suicide prevention training provided to prison and probation staff.

All new members of prison staff with prisoner contact receive training on suicide and self-harm prevention, and all staff who undertake key roles relating to risk assessment and case management also receive specific training relating to those roles. An e-learning module has also recently been made available for all staff to access on postvention support following a self-inflicted death in custody. These products have been developed by the HM Prison and Probation Service learning design team in conjunction with policy leads and subject matter experts. They include material developed in partnership with Samaritans, and consultation on elements of the content has taken place with healthcare and other partners and the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody.

There are two suicide prevention learning packages for probation staff: a Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) package for all staff, and a package aimed at new entrant Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) and Probation Service Officers (PSOs) which was developed internally as part of a broader introduction to mental health. The former was developed externally by the ZSA (a suicide awareness and prevention initiative funded via Mersey Cares NHS Charity) in conjunction with HMPPS subject matter experts, and the latter builds upon this and tailors it to the needs of new entrants.