Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 3 November (HL Deb, col 770), which prisons provide mental health training for prison officers to enable them effectively to identify and deal with mental health problems amongst the prison population.

All Prison Officers receive ‘Introduction to Mental Health’ training within their initial Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT). Within this training learners are taught to identify signs and symptoms for the various forms of mental ill-health, how to manage the offender and when it is necessary to seek help from healthcare professionals.

In addition, there is an ‘Enhanced Mental Health’ course which is run locally for Case Managers and Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) Assessors. This provides these specialist staff with a more in depth understanding of mental ill-health so that they can better support those identified as at risk.

There are also a number of establishments who have worked with NHS trusts to commission bespoke mental health training for staff.