Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support seriously mentally ill people so that they avoid going to prison.

Liaison and Diversion services operate at police stations and criminal courts in England to identify and assess people with vulnerabilities, such as substance misuse and mental ill-health, to refer them to services and, where appropriate, away from the justice system. Liaison and Diversion services have covered 100% of the population of England since April 2020.

The Ministry of Justice, the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities have developed a new protocol to increase the use of community sentence treatment requirements in courts to reduce reoffending. The use of short-term custodial sentences may address the health and social issues of the offender. We have provided £12 million to establish 21 programme sites for mental health treatment requirements.