Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of forensic beds available for people with mental health conditions held in police custody.

Police custody healthcare services provide care to detainees to support their physical and mental health needs. These services do not extend to the provision of forensic beds within police custody.

The forensic, or secure, mental health estate provides inpatient hospital services to people with severe mental illness who need specialist care.

Patients may be referred by a psychiatrist to these services, or they may be placed there following a court conviction, or they may be transferred there from a prison. People in police custody may be assessed and detained under the Mental Health Act, in some cases the referral may be to a secure service.