Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions has he had with the Chancellor of Exchequer on the adequacy of current levels of financial support for the prevention of women’s self-harm in prisons.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We recognise that the level of self-harm in the women’s estate is too high and are determined to reduce this. A Women’s Self-Harm Task Force was set up in April 2020 in response to our increasing concerns about the level of self-harm in the Women’s estate. We know that many of the drivers (risks and triggers) and protective factors linked to women’s risk of self-harm in prisons have been impacted by Covid-19 and the restricted regimes that have been put in place to control the spread of infection.
The Task Force has led work to introduce a number of specific interventions to counteract the impact of Covid-19 on self-harm in the Women’s estate. This work has seen the introduction of bespoke well-being checks, increased credit to enable phone calls and increased access to Purple Visits (video calls with family and friends).
We have prioritised the roll out of the revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) multi-disciplinary case management system used in prisons to support people at risk of suicide and self-harm. We will also be implementing the Offender Management in Custody model in the female estate in April. This will provide each woman in the female estate with a dedicated key worker who will be able to better support them and identify concerns at an early stage so that women can receive the right support at the right time.
We have also produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate risks and promote wellbeing. We have developed new guidance for staff on understanding and supporting someone who is self-harming. We continue to make the Samaritans phone service available and are working with the Samaritans to ensure that the Listener peer support scheme continues to function effectively wherever possible.
There has been further investment to support the wellbeing of women offenders in custody, including investment into increased phone credit for women and bespoke well-being checks. Further work has also been done to increase the number of video calls that prisoners have with family and friends.
Crucially, we have also invested £5m in alternatives to prison, including new women’s centres which help people address issues such as alcohol or drug addiction which leads them to crime.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to address the physical, emotional and psychological effects of custody during Stage 4 restrictions on unconvicted (a) young people, (b) adult women, and (c) adult men held on remand while awaiting trial.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Stage 4 regimes have been specifically designed on Public Health England (PHE) advice to reduce physical contact to a minimum, and for the primary objective of preserving life. This is important for the safety of both staff and residents. In bringing in these restrictions we are also prioritising activity to safeguard prisoner wellbeing and mental health.
The decision to remand someone is a matter for the independent judiciary. Defendants can be remanded where there is a risk they may abscond or commit offences if released on bail. We also recognise that the remand population is a group known to be at a higher risk of suicide and self-harm, and we have ensured that the processes to identify and support those people at risk have remained in place during these restrictions. We have taken a number of steps to mitigate the associated risks of the restrictions:
There has also been a focus on delivering essential activities, additional free phone credit and phone lines being opened for longer periods. The youth estate has been prioritised for in-room telephony installation and have used technology to facilitate virtual visits to enable all children and young people to stay in touch with their loved ones. Children and young people also have the opportunity to write and send letters, as well as having access to advocacy services and charities such as Barnardo’s and Childline.
For adult men and women, we have tailored guidance for supporting specific groups of people in prison whose wellbeing may be more impacted by Covid-19 measures put in place, including those in their early days of custody. We have put in place measures to enhance prisoners’ contact with family and friends, recognising that this is an important source of support and beneficial to wellbeing. This includes providing additional PIN credit and access to PIN phones, video calling and technology for compassionate use. To support wellbeing and address anxiety and boredom, we are providing distraction packs and in cell activities. We have also developed a range of self-help materials for residents, including a Wellbeing Plan created with input from mental health charity Mind. Throughout the pandemic, the Samaritans phone service has remained available and we are working with them to ensure that the Listener scheme continues to facilitate peer support between prisoners. We are supporting establishments to resume regular key work sessions in the adult male closed estate and have also put in place wellbeing checks across the women’s estate.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have died by suicide while on remand in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We publish this information as part of the Safety in Custody statistics available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-september-2019
Please see the number of self-inflicted deaths of those on remand in each of the last five years below:
2019 – 23
2018 – 27
2017 – 21
2016 – 33
2015 – 36
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.
Every death in custody is a tragedy. We do all we can to prevent prisoners taking their own lives.
We have rolled out revised and improved “Introduction to Suicide and Self-harm Prevention” training for new and existing staff. Over 24,000 staff have received part training and over 12,000 have received training in all six modules.
We have increased the level of support for prisons to help staff implement and monitor any necessary changes and we continue to support prisoners at risk of suicide and self-harm through the multi-disciplinary Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to reduce mental ill health among prisoners by providing facilities for (1) exercise, (2) education, and (3) work; and how those facilities have been affected by COVID-19 precautions.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Covid-19 pandemic and the necessary regime restrictions introduced in response to it have brought new and different challenges across the estate. Maintaining safety and the mental health and wellbeing of prisoners has remained a priority throughout. A range of products have been made available to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate any risks. Governors are required to agree a health delivery plan which includes how mental health support will be delivered during COVID-19.
We have tailored guidance for supporting specific groups of people in prison whose wellbeing may be more impacted by the Covid-19 measures put in place, including older prison residents, those with learning difficulties and groups known to be at increased risk of self-harm, suicide, or violence.
We have piloted improvements to Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT), which is the multidisciplinary case management approach used in prisons when someone is thought to be at risk of self-harm or suicide. Following a pause, due to the implementation of Covid-19 measures, we are currently planning the resumption of the roll-out of revised ACCT across the prison estate.
In addition, video health conferencing has been rolled out across the estate to support the delivery of mental health services by enabling contact with community and hospital services. Governors are also considering how mental health services can support people with the potential increased anxiety or other mental illnesses related to Covid-19, as well as ‘lockdown’ experiences and restrictions.
A range of internal initiatives have been developed, including the development of weekly national wellbeing content through HMPPS Psychology Services and prison radio content focussed on wellbeing. We have also been working with education providers to support prisons in the adult estate. This has allowed us to enable learning to continue via in cell activity, distraction material and learning packs. Within the Youth Secure Estate the delivery of education remains a particular priority as we seek to mirror the position taken for vulnerable children in the community, where it is possible to do so.It is our desire to continue to provide ‘face to face’ classroom-based education, notwithstanding local variations and the impact of potential outbreaks amongst staff or children.
In relation to exercise, since the beginning of the pandemic prisons have been authorised to use external exercise yards for access to the open air and to deliver external physical education. All sites have also set out how they will provide prisoners with time out of cell, and the safe equivalent of association time.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork cases have been opened in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) is used in prisons to support people at risk of suicide and self-harm. Due to a current technical issue with extracting previous ACCT data from the system we are unable to provide figures on how many ACCT documents were opened in each of the last five years. We are working to resolve this issue and will write to you once we have the data available.
The number of people managed by ACCT fluctuates daily, but data for 2020 has shown that an average of around 2,000 prisoners have been assessed as being at risk and are being supported through ACCT on any given day.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of suicides in prison over the last 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Every death in custody is a tragedy and the Government is committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prison.
There is a variety of financial costs associated with responding to and investigating each self-inflicted death, making it difficult to calculate the total. However, it is the human cost, in terms of the loss of life, and the impact on the lives of others, including the bereaved family and friends and the staff who worked with the individual, that is of concern to the Government. It is our determination to avoid these harms, and our commitment to the welfare of those in our care, that drive our work to prevent self-inflicted deaths.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people in prison are currently managed under the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork care planning system.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) is used in prisons to support people at risk of suicide and self-harm. We cannot provide live data on the number of people managed by the ACCT process as quality assured data is only available up to March this year. The number of people managed by ACCT fluctuates daily, but data for 2020 has shown that on average of around 2,000 prisoners have been assessed as being at risk and are being supported through ACCT on any given day.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 12 June 2020 to Question 54072 on Prisons: Coronavirus, what recent assessment he has made of levels of (a) self-harm, (b) attempted suicide, (c) suicide, (d) violence between prisoners, (e) attacks on prison staff and (f) mental health crises in prisons during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Our most recently published Safety in Custody statistics which contains data on assaults and self-harm, cover the period up to the end of March 2020 and therefore do not cover the majority of the covid-19 outbreak.
These figures show that the number of self-harm incidents increased by 11% in the 12 months to March 2020, although have decreased in the past two quarters, including a 6% decrease in the latest quarter.
Assaults up to March 2020 are down 8% from the 12 months to March 2019, and we have seen reductions in this for the last four quarters. Similarly, assaults on staff have decreased by 5% in the year to March 2020.
In the 12 months to June 2020 self-inflicted deaths in prison custody decreased by 13% from the previous 12 months.
Figures for assaults and self-harm up to the end of June, and deaths to the end of October will be published on 29 October 2020
Safety has remained a priority throughout the pandemic, and we recognise the need to remain vigilant to the risks to prisoners and staff as impacts of the virus continue.
We are continuing to provide care and support to people at risk of self-harm or suicide through ACCT (Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork) case management and provide a range of distraction packs and in-cell activities. We are also working with the Samaritans to ensure that the Listener peer support scheme continues to function effectively.
Our plan for easing restrictions in prisons, and re-introducing them where necessary, is set out in the National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services and is guided by public health advice, whilst ensuring we can keep staff and prisoners safe.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on reoffending rates of slower progression through indeterminate sentences by prisoners as a result of limited access to (a) legal support, (b) offender managers, (c) release on temporary license and (d) offending behaviour programmes during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact of the pandemic across all responsibilities of our prisons, including on the progression of Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners (ISPs). Whilst some changes to prison regimes have been necessary due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no evidence that the progression of ISPs has been significantly impaired. Consequently, it would be entirely premature to posit any effect on reoffending rates or future public spending on prisons and probation or overcrowding within prisons. We recognise that anxieties regarding COVID-19 and the regime restrictions required for infection control may increase the risk of self-harm and violence for some prisoners, and we will continue to work to mitigate this risk as far as possible.
Despite necessary restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, legal visits have been prioritised to ensure that ISPs maintain meaningful contact with their legal representatives.
The Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) Model continues to make transformational improvements in the way we support and manage prisoners through their sentence plan. A joint prison and probation Exceptional Delivery Model (EDM) was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure key offender management tasks were completed in line with the regime level of the prison, whilst upholding the ethos of the OMiC Model.
As to be expected, most Release On Temporary Licence (ROTL) was suspended in March 2020 to help tackle the threat from Covid-19; however, we have been working with Public Health authorities to support prisons to re-introduce ROTL where it is safe and practicable to do so.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is reviewing the reduced provision of offending behaviour programmes (OBPs), in order to prioritise access to such opportunities on those who present the highest risk of reoffending on release. When it comes to the parole reviews of ISPs, the Parole Board is presented with a wide range of evidence, not just completion of OBPs, in order to assess whether a prisoner’s risk has been reduced to the point where s/he might be safely release on licence.
The HMPPS Safety Team has produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate risks during the pandemic of disorder, self-harm, suicide and violence. The Team has issued guidance on operating the key safety systems (such the case management models for self-harm and suicide and violence), whilst complying with infection control measures and in the context of staff shortfalls and/or the absence of trained staff. This guidance includes materials to support wellbeing at this particularly difficult time, including a range of in-cell activities.
Finally, I would like to be clear that our primary responsibility is to protect the public. We do not want to keep ISPs in custody any longer than is necessary, but we have a duty to ensure that they are progressed in a safe manner. It remains the case that prisoners serving indeterminate sentences will be released only when the independent Parole Board concludes that the risk to the public is capable of being safely managed in the community under probation supervision.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on future public spending on (a) prisons and (b) probation of slower progression through indeterminate sentences by prisoners as a result of limited access to (i) legal support, (ii) offender managers, (iii) release on temporary license and (iv) offending behaviour programmes during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact of the pandemic across all responsibilities of our prisons, including on the progression of Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners (ISPs). Whilst some changes to prison regimes have been necessary due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no evidence that the progression of ISPs has been significantly impaired. Consequently, it would be entirely premature to posit any effect on reoffending rates or future public spending on prisons and probation or overcrowding within prisons. We recognise that anxieties regarding COVID-19 and the regime restrictions required for infection control may increase the risk of self-harm and violence for some prisoners, and we will continue to work to mitigate this risk as far as possible.
Despite necessary restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, legal visits have been prioritised to ensure that ISPs maintain meaningful contact with their legal representatives.
The Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) Model continues to make transformational improvements in the way we support and manage prisoners through their sentence plan. A joint prison and probation Exceptional Delivery Model (EDM) was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure key offender management tasks were completed in line with the regime level of the prison, whilst upholding the ethos of the OMiC Model.
As to be expected, most Release On Temporary Licence (ROTL) was suspended in March 2020 to help tackle the threat from Covid-19; however, we have been working with Public Health authorities to support prisons to re-introduce ROTL where it is safe and practicable to do so.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is reviewing the reduced provision of offending behaviour programmes (OBPs), in order to prioritise access to such opportunities on those who present the highest risk of reoffending on release. When it comes to the parole reviews of ISPs, the Parole Board is presented with a wide range of evidence, not just completion of OBPs, in order to assess whether a prisoner’s risk has been reduced to the point where s/he might be safely release on licence.
The HMPPS Safety Team has produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate risks during the pandemic of disorder, self-harm, suicide and violence. The Team has issued guidance on operating the key safety systems (such the case management models for self-harm and suicide and violence), whilst complying with infection control measures and in the context of staff shortfalls and/or the absence of trained staff. This guidance includes materials to support wellbeing at this particularly difficult time, including a range of in-cell activities.
Finally, I would like to be clear that our primary responsibility is to protect the public. We do not want to keep ISPs in custody any longer than is necessary, but we have a duty to ensure that they are progressed in a safe manner. It remains the case that prisoners serving indeterminate sentences will be released only when the independent Parole Board concludes that the risk to the public is capable of being safely managed in the community under probation supervision.