Asked by: Lord Woodley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners serving an imprisonment for public protection sentence (1) took their own life, or (2) died from other causes, in 2023.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners
We have implemented a revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) case management approach across the prison estate which is used to support people at risk of suicide or self-harm in prison. Revisions in ACCT v6 include: a stronger emphasis on taking a person-centred approach; better multi-disciplinary team working; a consistent quality assurance process and an improved focus on identifying and addressing an individual’s risks, triggers and protective factors.
To support the implementation of ACCT v6 we are developing and introducing a new safety training package for staff (called Safety Support Skills training). It brings together related safety topics, including suicide and self-harm prevention, understanding risks, triggers and protective factors, and encourages a joined-up approach to prison safety.
We have also worked with Samaritans to develop a postvention response to providing support in the period following a self-inflicted death in order to reduce the risk of further deaths. This has been implemented across the adult male estate, and the roll out of an adapted version of the approach in the women’s estate will shortly be completed. Our grant to Samaritans includes funding for this service to be maintained until March 2025.
In 2023, 17 prisoners serving an imprisonment for public protection sentence died in custody, 9 of these were classified as self-inflicted deaths.
(1) Deaths in prison custody figures include all deaths of prisoners arising from incidents during prison custody. They include deaths of prisoners while released on temporary license (ROTL) for medical reasons but exclude other types of ROTL where the state has less direct responsibility.
(2) An indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) was introduced in 2005. It was intended for high risk prisoners considered ‘dangerous’ but whose offence did not merit a life sentence. The number of prisoners held on this sentence increased initially and the increase was offset by reductions elsewhere
(3) Figures include incidents at HMPPS run Immigration Removal Centres and during contracted out escorts. Figures do not include incidents at Medway STC
(4) The self-inflicted deaths category includes a wider range of deaths than suicides. When comparing figures with other sources it is important to determine whether the narrower suicide or broader self-inflicted deaths approach is in use.
Data Sources and Quality
These figures are derived from the HMPPS Deaths in Prison Custody database. As classification of deaths may change following inquest or as new information emerges, numbers may change from time to time.
Please note that all deaths in prison custody are subject to a coroner’s inquest. It is the responsibility of the coroner to determine the cause of death. The HMPPS system for classifying deaths provides a provisional classification for administrative and statistical purposes. The final classification is only determined at inquest. Figures dependent on classification of deaths should therefore be treated as provisional.
It remains a priority for this Government that all those serving the IPP sentence receive the support they need to progress towards safe release from custody or, where they are being supervised on licence in the community, towards having their licence terminated altogether. In that respect, the Lord Chancellor, announced on 28 November 2023, this Government is taking changes forward in the Victims and Prisoners Bill to reform legislation relating to the termination of the licence for IPP offenders by making amendments to section 31A of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.
The new measure, subject to the views of Parliament, will:
a. reduce the qualifying period which triggers the duty of the Secretary of State to refer an IPP licence to the Parole Board for termination from ten years to three years;
b. include a clear statutory presumption that the IPP licence will be terminated by the Parole Board at the end of the three-year qualifying period;
c. introduce a provision that will automatically terminate the IPP licence two years after the three-year qualifying period, in cases where the Parole Board has not terminated the licence, so long as the offender is not recalled in that period; and
d. introduce a power to amend the qualifying period by Statutory Instrument;
The Government was particularly persuaded by the Justice Select Committee’s (JSC) recommendation to reduce the qualifying licence period from 10 years to five years – a recommendation in their IPP inquiry report published on 28 September 2022. We are going further: reducing the period to three years. These amendments will restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences by reducing the qualifying period to three years and providing a clear pathway to a definitive end to the licence and, therefore, the sentence.
The safety workstream will actively support Prisons to deliver improvements to safety of those serving an IPP sentence. We plan to;
• Continue to raise staff awareness of the heightened risk of self-harm, suicide and violence of IPP prisoners.
• Monitor, analyse and share any changing or emerging trends in published IPP prisoner data to inform and update guidance where appropriate
• Share internal and external learning, initiatives and communications to inform and enable prisons to support IPP prisoners at risk of self-harm, suicide and violence.
• Develop and pilot a IPP safety toolkit, based on positive practice, to support prisons to improve their approach to IPP prisoners and encourage local innovation.
Mentions:
1: Bambos Charalambous (Lab - Southgate and Wood Green) He was one of the longest serving IPP prisoners at the time of his death. - Speech Link
2: Danny Chambers (LD - Winchester) psychiatrist who gave evidence at the inquest said that the IPP sentence had contributed to Tommy’s death - Speech Link
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people with epilepsy have died in prison (a) from all causes and (b) as a direct result of their epilepsy in the last ten years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners. All deaths in prison custody are subject to a coroner’s inquest.
The HMPPS National Health and Safety Arrangements for First and Emergency Aid (publishing.service.gov.uk) require each prison to complete a first aid needs assessment, taking account of local risk and demand. All sites must have in place suitable numbers of adequately trained staff, equipment, and facilities to meet the need for first aid provision. First Aid training provided to prison staff – such as the course provided by St Johns Ambulance, which includes a wide range of topics, including how to deal with epileptic seizures – meets the standard required to comply with the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will raise the treatment of Alexei Navalny by the Russian authorities at the United Nations.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Alexei Navalny's courage and aspiration for a democratic Russia live on in those brave Russians who continue to speak up. The Government continues to call on the Russian authorities to allow a full and independent investigation into the circumstances of his death. At the UN Security Council on 24 September, the Foreign Secretary condemned Russia's repression of its own people, including courageous individuals such as Alexei Navalny. That day the UK's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva also raised Alexei Navalny's death and the treatment of political prisoners in Russia at the Human Rights Council.
Found: prisons”. 3 In terms of suicide, the report noted that the quality of early learning reviews following death
Oct. 17 2024
Source Page: Grave of lost World War Two soldier located in ItalyFound: In September 1943 when Italy capitulated, many prisoners found themselves without guards and took the
Oct. 17 2024
Source Page: Grave of lost World War Two soldier located in ItalyFound: In September 1943 when Italy capitulated, many prisoners found themselves without guards and took the
Mentions:
1: Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD - Life peer) How does he plan to address the needs of prisoners? - Speech Link
2: Lord Farmer (Con - Life peer) Finally, the Question refers to vulnerable prisoners. - Speech Link
3: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (XB - Life peer) The death of anyone by suicide is a great sadness but there is a particular forlornness, a sense of failure - Speech Link
4: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer) Recent events suggest there is no fairness for IPP prisoners. - Speech Link
5: Lord Timpson (Lab - Life peer) Every death is a tragedy. - Speech Link
Oct. 31 2024
Source Page: Safety in custody: quarterly update to June 2024Found: deaths.(8) In the case of drug related deaths where no intent to self-harm has been discovered, the death