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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
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.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of suicides in prison.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners.
We know that relationships between staff and prisoners plays an important role in preventing self-inflicted deaths in prisons and that is why we have announced additional investment in our workforce. As of 30 September 2023, there were 23,058 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Band 3-5 prison officers in post, an increase of 1,441 FTE since 30 September 2022. This means staff can provide more support for prisoners and better monitor the risk of harm. In addition to recruiting new officers, we are developing and phasing in a new safety training package for staff. It brings together information on related safety topics, including suicide and self-harm prevention, understanding risks, triggers and protective factors. This training is complemented by a revised version of the case management approach used in prisons to support people at risk of suicide or self-harm.
We will continue to fund the Samaritans (£625,000 each year until March 2025) to deliver the Listener scheme where prisoners are trained to provide emotional support to each other. We have also worked with the Samaritans to design an additional support service for prisons in the period following a self-inflicted death, with the aim of reducing the risk of further deaths.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer of Lord Bellamy on 28 November (HL272), whether the figure quoted, of 18 deaths among those serving imprisonment for public protection sentences in secure hospitals up to 31 December 2022, is included within the overall figures of deaths of IPP prisoners published by the HM Prison and Probation Service for the same period.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HMPPS publishes quarterly Safety in Custody statistics which cover deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison custody, in England and Wales. These published statistics do not include the death of those in secure mental health facilities.
I also refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave to question HL273 on 28 November 2023, which can be found via the following link: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many incidents of self-harm were recorded by people serving a sentence of Detention for Public Protection in each year since 2005.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 16 October 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced he would be looking at options to curtail the licence period to restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences in line with recommendation 8 of the report by the Justice Select Committee (JSC), published on 28 September 2022.
These changes are being taken forward in the Victims and Prisoners Bill. The measure will make it quicker and easier to terminate the IPP licence (and therefore the IPP sentence as a whole) whilst balancing public protection considerations.
The new measure will:
The Lord Chancellor was persuaded by the Committee’s recommendation to reduce the qualifying licence period from 10 years to 5 years and is going further: reducing the period to 3 years. These amendments will restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences and provide a clear pathway to a definitive end to the licence and, therefore, the sentence, while balancing public protection considerations.
In addition to these changes, the actions this Government are taking are working; the number of prisoners serving the IPP sentence who have never been released now stands at 1,269 as of September 2023, down from more than 6000 in 2012.
We have provided a breakdown of the incidents of self-harm that were recorded by people serving a sentence of Detention for Public Protection in each year since 2012 in the below table:
Number of self-harm incidents by prisoners serving a sentence of Detention for Public Protection 2012 to 2022
Year | Number of self-harm incidents |
2012 | 96 |
2013 | 137 |
2014 | 167 |
2015 | 183 |
2016 | 229 |
2017 | 226 |
2018 | 219 |
2019 | 348 |
2020 | 300 |
2021 | 339 |
2022 | 251 |
Data Sources and Quality
These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.
(1) Figures include incidents within the youth estate and during contracted out escorts.
(2) In prisons, as in the community, it is not possible to count self-harm incidents with absolute accuracy. In prison custody, however, such incidents are more likely to be detected and counted. Care needs to be taken when comparing figures shown here with other sources where data may be less complete.
(3) Indeterminate sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and Detention for Public Protection (DPP) were introduced in 2005. They were intended for high risk prisoners considered ‘dangerous’ but whose offence did not merit a life sentence. The number of prisoners held on these sentences increased initially and the increase was offset by reductions elsewhere.
(4) Sentence type information is only available for a small proportion of incidents prior to 2012, so it is not possible to provide a reliable breakdown by sentence type prior to then.
(5) The numbers provided in this table result from a matching between NOMIS data and Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD) data. A total of 13 prisoners identified in the PPUD data did not have an associated NOMIS identifier. Additionally, the figures in the table only includes individuals identified in NOMIS as serving IPP or DPP sentences, and also as serving a DPP sentence in PPUD data. The figures provided here are an estimate based on these two sources and as inconsistencies in recording between these two sources exist the figures should be treated with caution.
(6) Includes known DPPs in prison regardless of whether they are unreleased or have been recalled, or if they have subsequently been resentenced.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the deaths of prisoners serving an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence in secure mental health facilities are included in overall figures of deaths of IPP prisoners, published by the HM Prison and Probation Service.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 16 October 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced he would be looking at options to curtail the licence period to restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences in line with recommendation 8 of the report by the Justice Select Committee (JSC), published on 28 September 2022.
These changes are being taken forward in the Victims and Prisoners Bill. The measure will make it quicker and easier to terminate the IPP licence (and therefore the IPP sentence as a whole) whilst balancing public protection considerations.
The new measure will:
The Lord Chancellor was persuaded by the Committee’s recommendation to reduce the qualifying licence period from 10 years to 5 years and is going further: reducing the period to 3 years. These amendments will restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences and provide a clear pathway to a definitive end to the licence and, therefore, the sentence, while balancing public protection considerations.
There were 18 deaths of those serving IPP sentences in secure hospitals, up to 31 December 2022.
Please Note:
(1) Data is only available from 2009 onwards.
(2) Figures have been taken from a subset of published data in the Restricted Patients Statistical Bulletin, which has been published up to 31 December 2022.
(3) The data relates to all deaths, including natural causes and self-inflicted.
(4) Some cases may have ongoing investigations to determine the cause of death.
HMPPS publishes quarterly Safety in Custody statistics which cover deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison custody, in England and Wales. These published statistics do not include the death of those in secure mental health facilities.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people serving an imprisonment for public protection sentence have died in secure mental health facilities.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 16 October 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced he would be looking at options to curtail the licence period to restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences in line with recommendation 8 of the report by the Justice Select Committee (JSC), published on 28 September 2022.
These changes are being taken forward in the Victims and Prisoners Bill. The measure will make it quicker and easier to terminate the IPP licence (and therefore the IPP sentence as a whole) whilst balancing public protection considerations.
The new measure will:
The Lord Chancellor was persuaded by the Committee’s recommendation to reduce the qualifying licence period from 10 years to 5 years and is going further: reducing the period to 3 years. These amendments will restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences and provide a clear pathway to a definitive end to the licence and, therefore, the sentence, while balancing public protection considerations.
There were 18 deaths of those serving IPP sentences in secure hospitals, up to 31 December 2022.
Please Note:
(1) Data is only available from 2009 onwards.
(2) Figures have been taken from a subset of published data in the Restricted Patients Statistical Bulletin, which has been published up to 31 December 2022.
(3) The data relates to all deaths, including natural causes and self-inflicted.
(4) Some cases may have ongoing investigations to determine the cause of death.
HMPPS publishes quarterly Safety in Custody statistics which cover deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison custody, in England and Wales. These published statistics do not include the death of those in secure mental health facilities.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of how many (a) incidents of self harm and (b) assaults on police staff by prisoners held in police cells as part of Operation Safeguard there have been in 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Individual police forces offering accommodation under Operation Safeguard are responsible for the lawful custody and care of prisoners held in police accommodation. The safe and effective management of Operation Safeguard across police forces is coordinated by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC).
Operation Safeguard is a contingency measure that provides additional headroom for use if prisoners cannot be accepted from the courts or police custody. It is a temporary measure to provide a short-term solution. When Operation Safeguard is active, tactical and operational governance reviews take place at regular intervals, as agreed with police partners.
There are no additional costs to the taxpayer and any spend under Operation Safeguard comes from within existing departmental budgets. Every aspect of Operation Safeguard – including compensation for cells – is based on agreements between HMPPS, the police and the Home Office. Spend is recorded on a cost-recovery basis.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drug overdoses took place in prisons from March (a) 2021-2022 and (b) 2022-2023 broken down by institution.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Between January 2021 and December 2021, a total of 2,273 incidents of self-harm were recorded that were linked to overdoses.
The total figure for January 2022 to December 2022 was 2,387 incidents linked to overdoses. Please see the accompanying table.
The data has been produced on a calendar basis to match published figures on method of self-harm. Information is reported for calendar rather than financial years to avoid the risk of identifying individuals in combination with published calendar year breakdowns of self-harm data.
We do not explicitly collect data on an “overdose” incident type. The data we have provided is based on the “self-harm” incident type. In particular, the data is based on self-harm categorised as “Self-Poisoning/Overdose/Substances/Swallowing” and subcategorised as “illegal drugs”, “own persons medicine” or “other persons medicine”.
The data provided is based on two main assumptions:
There will be other incidents involving the consumption of substances that are not included as they were not reported as self-harm by the prison and so would not have been captured in the provided data.
These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System and although care is taken when processing and analysing returns, the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.
The data only includes self-harm incidents collated centrally; identifying any wider incidents that lead to a hospitalisation and have a connection to drugs would exceed the cost threshold as it would require reading through the text of each incident.
We are committed to doing all we can to prevent deaths from drug overdoses in prison. We have outlined in both our Prisons Strategy White Paper and the Government’s 10-year drug strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’ (2021) how we will achieve this.
All prisons have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs. Our £100m Security Investment Programme, completed in March 2022, introduced measures such as 75 additional X-ray body scanners and airport-style gate security. To prevent the smuggling of illegal drugs such as psychoactive substances through the mail, we have deployed 95 next generation drug trace detection machines. We are aiming for full coverage of public sector prisons by March 2024.
We are also increasing the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living units, where prisoners commit to remaining free of illicit drugs with regular drug testing and incentives. We have more than doubled the number of these from 25 last summer to 60 now and we are aiming to reach up to 100 by March 2025.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to protect prison and custody staff from potential assault in plans to compel people to attend their sentencing.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Violence against our dedicated staff will never be tolerated. We are working closely with the Police and the CPS to ensure the successful prosecutions of prisoners who assault staff along with the strongest possible punishment being imposed. In the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, the Government doubled the maximum penalty for assaulting an emergency worker, including prison officers and officers exercising custody functions, to 2 years’ imprisonment. We have rolled out a next generation Body Worn Video Camera solution which has increased the availability across public sector prisons from 6,000 to over 13,000 cameras, with every band 3-5 officer on shift being provided with a camera. The cameras will provide high-quality evidence to support prosecutions against prisoners who commit assaults. Additionally, we have invested £100 million to bolster prison security to clamp down on violence, self-harm and crime behind bars.
Our plans to compel attendance at sentencing hearings will set in legislation the power of custody officers to use reasonable force to make criminal appear in the dock. The decision on whether to use force would remain with custody officers and continue to be decided on a case-by-case basis where it is necessary, reasonable, and proportionate.
Courts will continue to be mindful of the impact that violent and disorderly defendants have on the safety of custody officers and the disruption and stress they can cause to victims and their families. An offender who refuses to attend their sentencing hearing where ordered to do so, including by disorderly conduct, will face up to an additional 2 years in custody.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what work is being done in prisons to identify victims of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome; and what steps they are taking to introduce appropriate management and treatment regimes for those prisoners identified.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All people in prison receive an early health assessment through a reception screening process. Every person receives a first and second stage health assessment, which incorporates a mental health screening in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. This screening includes questions and actions relating to their risk of self-harm and/or suicide, learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders.
For women who are pregnant and in prison, a full health assessment is undertaken. Any risks, such as alcohol dependency which could lead to foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), should be monitored and managed by the healthcare team, including midwife support. Currently there is no specific treatment for FASD, but where a baby is at risk of FASD, this will form part of the birth plan with the hospital.