Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the number and proportion of prisoners who have self-harmed in (a) each of the last 12 months and (b) each year since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds
We publish the number of self-harming individuals and self-harming individuals per 1,000 prisoners for each year within the Government’s Safety in Custody Statistics: Self-Harm annual tables. The table at 2.1 provides the number of self-harming individuals and self-harming individuals per 1,000 prisoners for number and proportion for each year since 2010.
The below table sets out the number of self-harming individuals and self-harming individuals per 1,000 prisoners in each month between July 2021 and June 2022.
Number and Rate of Individuals Self-harming by Month
Month | Self-harming individuals3 | Self-harm individuals per 1,000 prisoners4 |
Jul-21 | 2,045 | 26.1 |
Aug-21 | 1,994 | 25.3 |
Sep-21 | 2,020 | 25.6 |
Oct-21 | 2,043 | 25.7 |
Nov-21 | 2,184 | 27.4 |
Dec-21 | 2,098 | 26.5 |
Jan-22 | 1,944 | 24.5 |
Feb-22 | 1,868 | 23.4 |
Mar-22 | 1,960 | 24.6 |
Apr-22 | 1,861 | 23.4 |
May-22 | 1,965 | 24.5 |
Jun-22 | 1,944 | 24.1 |
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.
Figures include incidents occurring at youth establishments, HMPPS operated Immigration Removal Centres and during contracted out escorts, but exclude incidents at Medway STC.
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.
Numbers of individuals should be treated as approximate, as the details of prisoners are not always recorded against each self-harm incident.
The monthly rate is based on the number of self-harming individuals in that month and the prison population as at the last day of that month. It is not directly comparable to the annual rate, which is based on the number of self-harming individuals at any point in that year and the average prison population for each month within the year.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the impact of safer custody teams on (a) mental health support in prisons and (b) the welfare of prisoners.
Answered by Damian Hinds
We have a continued commitment to ensure that the safety of staff and prisoners is a priority. Each prison has a safer custody team that takes the lead on implementing safer custody policy and plays a major role in positively promoting the welfare of prisoners, but this is also the responsibility of every member of staff within the prison. Safer custody teams vary between prisons according to the function, population and size of the prison. The teams have responsibilities including analysing data on violence and self-harm, responding to investigations into deaths in custody and implementing or disseminating learning from them, and supervising peer support schemes. They also have oversight of the key systems for managing safety risks, including the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork process for those at risk of self-harm and suicide and the Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan for those at risk of violence.
Mental health is a priority for this Government and we recognise that providing the right support and treatment at the right time is vital to improving outcomes for people in the criminal justice system. All prisoners have access to a range of mental health services which are commissioned by NHS England. Together, we are committed to ensuring that people in prison have access to an equivalent standard of health care as is available for people in the community.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners are currently being confined to their cells for 23 hours a day; what assessment they have made of the impact of this practice on prisoner (1) self-harm, (2) assaults, and (3) suicides; and what plans they have to reduce the current level of confinement to address any such impacts.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
No prisons are routinely operating a 23 hour per day or similar lockdown and I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave to question HL3355 on 29 November 2022.
Maintaining safety continues to be a priority, and where regimes are limited, we continue to prioritise the implementation of key safety interventions. This includes our case management approaches to manage the risk of self-harm and suicide (Assessment, Care in Custody, and Teamwork) and of violent behaviour (Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan), and the delivery of key work, through which prison officers provide one-to-one support for prisoners.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the most recent statistics available on self-harm during the first 90 days in custody in the closed prison estate.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
We do not currently publish a breakdown of self-harm incidents by total time in custody or by prison. Changes to our self-harm tables are considered as part of our regular review of how our statistical publications can best meet the needs of their users and stakeholders. Statistics on self-harm incidents by time in custody, like all identified information gaps, will be considered ahead of our more detailed annual statistics on self-harm in custody, due to be published in April 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of HMP Peterborough’s scheme to reduce self-harm incidents in their female prison; and whether such a scheme could be implemented across England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
We welcome the work HMP Peterborough is doing to reduce self-harm amongst female prisoners. We continue to do everything we can to address self-harm across the estate. In 2020, we established a multi-disciplinary Women’s Self-Harm Taskforce to address the high levels of self-harm. The aim of the taskforce is to focus on work, research and interventions that improve prisoner outcomes. The taskforce is trialling and formally evaluating a range of initiatives for women in prison and will use the formal evaluations of the work at Peterborough, and the similar work across the women’s prison estate, to inform our approaches to reducing self-harm amongst female prisoners going forward.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Safety in Custody Statistics: Self-harm annual tables, 2004 - 2021, what steps he is taking to reduce self-harming incidents in female establishments.
Answered by Damian Hinds
We continue to do everything we can to address self-harm in the women’s estate.
We have implemented a strengthened case management approach to support women at risk of self-harm, as well as one to one key work support, tailored for the female estate.
In the Prisons Strategy White Paper, we set out our vision for prisons of the future, with a new approach to the women’s estate including smaller, trauma-responsive custodial environments for women on short sentences. We are also investing £37 million on measures to reduce levels of self-harm and violence, including in the women’s estate.
Alongside this, we have established a Women’s Self-Harm Taskforce to provide specialist support and an increased range of interventions across women’s prisons. This includes delivery of specialist training for new officers, recruitment of psychologists to support women with complex needs and piloting a compassion focussed therapy designed for women.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the annual number of reported assaults on (1) prisoners, and (2) prison staff, in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Department publishes statistics on deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison custody in England and Wales in the quarterly Safety in Custody statistics available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics. The table below shows the requested data, broken down by financial year, from 2012-13 to 2021-22:
Financial Year | Total Number of Assaults: Prisoner on Prisoner (1,2,3,4,6) | Total Number of Assaults: Prisoner on Prison Staff (1,2,3,5,6) |
2012-13 | 11,173 | 2,964 |
2013-14 | 11,651 | 3,372 |
2014-15 | 12,953 | 3,887 |
2015-16 | 16,731 | 5,409 |
2016-17 | 19,360 | 7,159 |
2017-18 | 22,374 | 9,003 |
2018-19 | 22,821 | 9,630 |
2019-20 | 20,632 | 9,020 |
2020-21 | 10,977 | 7,011 |
2021-22 | 12,773 | 7,599 |
(1) Figures include incidents at HMPPS operated Immigration Removal Centres and during contracted out escorts |
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(2) Figures do not include incidents at Medway STC. For more information on Secure Training Centres, please see Youth justice annual statistics at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/youth-justice-annual-statistics | |
(3) Figures from April 2018 onwards exclude incidents occurring within the youth estate. The youth estate includes incidents occurring within Cookham Wood, Werrington and Wetherby, as well as the youth wing at Feltham and Parc. Prior to April 2018 these figures were collected via manual returns, so it is not possible to split out all youth estate incidents up to March 2018. Figures for incidents occurring within the youth estate are published within the ‘Safety in the children and young people secure estate’ statistics bulletin via the following link - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/safety-in-the-youth-secure-estate-bulletin | |
(4) Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults are a subset of all assault incidents |
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(5) Assaults on staff are a subset of all assault incidents |
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(6) The sum of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults and assaults on staff may not equal the total number of assaults because staff may be assaulted in a prisoner-on-prisoner assault incident and other assault incidents may involve other people, e.g. visitors |
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The Prisons Strategy White Paper set out how we will improve safety and security in our prisons. Prison staff carry out a vital role in protecting the public and we will do all we can to protect them and prisoners from violence.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the new Enhanced Support Service on tackling the most challenging behaviour in prisons.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We are investing to make our prisons safer for both prisoners and staff through a preventative approach, including introducing specialist support and developing bespoke interventions. Over the next three years we will make available an Enhanced Support Service (ESS) to 18 prisons, where we find the most violent behaviour. ESS provides a multi-disciplinary team of a prison officer, mental health nurse and psychologist, to work with individuals, and address their risk of harm to self and others, intervening in the most acute situations.
There has been a positive evaluation about the impact of ESS in one prison and key learning from the evaluation showed a reduction in aggressive behaviours. We will continue to evaluate the impact of ESS on violence and self-harm.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on levels of (a) self-harm and (b) suicide among prisoners held under Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Secretary of State for Justice has not discussed levels of self-harm and suicide among prisoners held under Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
However, preventing self-harm and self-inflicted deaths of prisoners is a key priority for this Government as set out in the Prisons Strategy White Paper.
We are providing prisons with tools to improve the way data is used to identify prisoners at increased risk of suicide and self-harm and we are developing training for staff to improve their understanding and knowledge of what drives self-harm in prisons. For those prisoners at increased risk, we also provide additional support through our targeted case management approach to ensure they receive appropriate care and support, and have also invested in implementing a Key Worker scheme across the estate, providing dedicated staff support to prisoners. We continue to raise staff awareness of the particular risks of self-harm and suicide amongst the IPP population.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, and if so how, their policies towards suicide prevention in prisons differ between remand and convicted prisoners.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The table below sets out the number of self-inflicted deaths of remand prisoners in the ten years to December 2021. It also shows the percentage of all such deaths that were of remand prisoners.
Our figures refer to self-inflicted deaths, rather than suicides. Self-inflicted deaths include any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life, irrespective of intent. This includes not only suicides but also accidental deaths as a result of the person’s own actions. We use this classification because we cannot always know whether someone intended to take their own life. Those are ultimately decisions for coroners, who investigate all deaths in custody. For similar reasons, we cannot identify “attempted suicides” separately from other forms of self-harm, as we may not know the prisoner’s intention.
HM Prison & Probation Service does not operate a different approach to the prevention of suicide and self-harm among remand prisoners. All prisoners at risk of self-harm and suicide are supported equally, regardless of their situation. We recognise that remand is a known risk factor for self-harm and support is tailored to prisoners’ needs, particularly in the early days and weeks of custody. Following the unavoidable closure of courts in response to Covid-19, we are taking positive action to ensure more cases are heard and therefore to reduce the number of remand prisoners. This includes extending 32 nightingale courtrooms this year, installing video link equipment in all courts and increasing its capacity in prisons, removing the limit on Crown Court sitting days during 2021/22, and continuing to give priority to cases involving custody time limits.
Self-inflicted deaths of remand prisoners, 2012 to 2021
year | number of self-inflicted deaths | % of all self-inflicted deaths |
2012 | 18 | 30% |
2013 | 29 | 38% |
2014 | 26 | 29% |
2015 | 36 | 40% |
2016 | 33 | 27% |
2017 | 73 | 21% |
2018 | 27 | 29% |
2019 | 24 | 28% |
2020 | 19 | 28% |
2021 | 32 | 37% |