Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the current total amount of (a) compensation and (b) civil claim payments made to families of prisoners who have died in custody while serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The information requested is not held centrally. Information relating to payments relating to civil claims following the death in custody of prisoners is not broken down by sentence-type.
It remains a priority for the Government that all those on IPP sentences 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. Guidance has been provided to all prison staff and partner agencies to raise the importance of recognising the heightened level of risk of self-harm and suicide amongst IPP prisoners and an IPP Safety Toolkit has been developed, with a range of resources to promote learning and to help front-line staff support and engage those serving the IPP sentence effectively.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Independent Monitoring Board's report entitled Annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP/YOI Downview, published on 3 September 2025, what steps he is taking to ensure acutely mentally unwell prisoners are swiftly (a) identified and (b) given care in an appropriate facility at (a) HMP/YOI Downview, (b) other prisons and (c) other young offenders institutions.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissions prison health care services for HMP/YOI Downview and every other prison and young offenders institution in England. Every prison has onsite health care services including primary care, mental health, dentistry, and substance misuse teams.
The National Service Specification for integrated mental health sets out how patients within secure settings, who require support for their mental wellbeing, should receive the same level of healthcare as people in the community, both in terms of the range of interventions available to them, in order to meet their needs, and the quality and standards of those interventions.
This includes access to crisis intervention and crisis prevention for those at high risk of self-harm and suicide, where such behaviours relate to poor emotional wellbeing and/or minor psychiatric morbidity.
Access to mental health provision is available to every person in prison at any stage of their sentence, beginning at the point of entry. NHS England commissions first night reception screening to have a registered nurse/practitioner review patients’ medical history to address any immediate health needs and risks and to ensure medication is made available as soon as possible and that onward referrals to onsite healthcare teams, including mental health services, for both urgent face to face appointments, within 24 hours, and routine face to face appointments, within five working days, are made.
Outside of reception screening, people in prison can be referred or can self-refer to mental health services, within those timeframes.
When someone is acutely unwell, they can be transferred from prisons and other places of detention to hospital for treatment, under the Mental Health Act, within the target transfer period of 28 days. The Mental Health Bill, currently going through Parliament, introduces a statutory 28-day time limit within which agencies must seek to ensure individuals who meet the criteria for detention under the act are transferred to hospital for treatment. NHS England’s South East Health and Justice team is funding a transfer and remissions co-ordinator from January 2025, to improve, where possible, safe, effective, and efficient transfers to hospital level treatment and interventions.
NHS England is reviewing the National Integrated Prison Service Specification to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the prison population.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research showing that the rate of suicides among male prisoners is higher than that in the male general population, and what steps they are taking to reduce the rate of suicide of male prisoners.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting MP) and the Lord Chancellor (David Lammy MP) have jointly commissioned the Chief Medical Officer to produce a report into the health and health care for those in prisons and on probation. The report, which will include a chapter on custodial prison mental health services, the impact of imprisonment on mental wellbeing and the increased risk of suicide, is due to be published later this year. We will consider the recommendations and what further action may be needed.
We are committed to delivering the Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, which aims to reduce suicide rates and address the risk factors contributing to suicide. The Strategy highlights the need to provide tailored, targeted support to priority groups, including those at higher risk such as people in contact with the justice system.
NHS England strives to learn from preventable deaths in prisons through the NHS England Health and Justice Delivery Oversight Group, a senior leadership forum which holds responsibility for the oversight of delivery and continuous improvement in health and justice commissioned services. All health and justice-related Prevention of Future Deaths reports are shared and discussed at the Oversight Group and assurance is sought from regions where learning and action is identified. All reports received are also discussed by the Regulation 28 Working Group, comprising Regional Medical Directors and other clinical and quality colleagues from across the regions. This ensures key learning and insight around preventable deaths are shared across the National Health Service at both a national and regional level. This helps NHS England pay close attention to any emerging trends that may require further review and action.
This learning has led to the creation of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Case Management Training workstream where commissioners work with prison healthcare provider organisations and His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service. This ensures all staff have timely access to all joint training necessary for them to undertake their role effectively within the prison environment. Additionally, the Mental Health Triggers workstream, engages providers to ensure prisoners are asked about any significant/trigger dates at the initial healthcare screen when they arrive at prison and again at their seven-day health check.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many deaths by (1) suicide, and (2) natural causes, there were in prisons of people who were serving an imprisonment for public protection sentence between 1 January and 1 June.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not currently available. Releasing data on deaths of prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences between 1 January and 1 June would give an early indication of future accredited official statistics.
Data on self-inflicted and natural causes deaths in custody, including annual data on self-inflicted deaths for IPP prisoners, is published in the Ministry of Justice’s “Safety in Custody” statistics. The latest available detailed deaths data covers up to December 2024 and can be found here: Safety in custody: quarterly update to September 2024 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to improve (a) awareness and (b) understanding of (i) gambling-related suicide and (ii) other gambling-related harm at all levels of the justice system.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
In the Ministry of Justice, general training on wellbeing and resilience is available to all Civil Servants and we provide guidance to employees on suicide and self-harm. In previous Mental Health Awareness Weeks, specific events on ‘gambling addiction and mental health’ were available to all staff.
Within His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), National Debt Awareness week was observed in 2024, with several live events concerning gambling-related harms. Further materials such as the "Reach Out Save Lives" initiative, and bite-sized learning modules like the ‘HMPPS Problem Gambling: Prevalence and Practice’ course, are available to all staff. There is also the ‘Addiction to Gambling long-read’ which collates peer-reviewed literature on the matter and serves as operational guidance on working with those in prison and probation who experience gambling-related harms.
Support for prisoners who are experiencing gambling-related harm is provided by the NHS.
As an organisation, we take an evidence-based approach to ensure the Ministry of Justice is able to provide targeted support to respond to environmental factors. At this time, we are not planning any specific events training for the workforce related to gambling-related harm.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) prison and (b) probation staff have undertaken suicide prevention training.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
All new prison officers receive training in suicide and self-harm prevention as part of their seven-week Foundation training course.
For existing prison staff, there is a dedicated training module on suicide and self-harm. The training provides an understanding as to the context of self-harm and suicide within prisons, as well as the purpose and implementation of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process which is used to support prisoners identified as being at risk of suicide or self-harm.
Responsibility for delivering this training sits locally with prisons, therefore it is not possible to accurately assess the overall numbers who have received this training, due to local variations in how training is recorded.
There are two suicide prevention learning packages for Probation Staff as part of the current core national offer. One is a Zero Suicide Alliance package for all staff. The other is a package aimed at new entrant learners undertaking Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) and new Probation Service Officers which was developed internally as part of a broader Introduction to Mental Health.
The Introduction to Mental Health learning is designated as required for those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) and new Probation Service Officers (PSOs) in sentence management, both in custody and the community and is also accessed by established staff. The product contains knowledge modules around suicide and self-harm awareness.
The core national offer referenced is a comprehensive learning package which was recently introduced. Staff who were in post prior to this would have completed other core learning programmes.
It is important to note that whilst we collate completion figures for the current core learning, this does not represent the totality of suicide and self-harm prevention learning received by staff.
This is due to regionally organised activities and previous learning opportunities where data is not nationally held.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce incidence of self harm on the secure estate.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
We recognise that rates of self-harm across the estate are high, and we are taking action to address this.
We provide individualised support through our case management process for people assessed as at risk of self-harm. This approach places a strong emphasis on identifying individual risks, triggers and protective factors and having effective care plans in place to record, address and mitigate risks.
All new staff receive suicide and self-harm prevention and mental health awareness training, to increase skills in supporting at-risk prisoners.
We fund Samaritans to train prisoners to provide emotional support to other prisoners in crisis (the Listener Scheme).
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take to reduce deaths in custody.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman investigates the deaths of prisoners in custody. The investigations are a vital tool to ensure lessons are learned following deaths in prison and to improve safety outcomes in the future.
We provide individualised support through our case management process for people assessed as at risk of suicide and self-harm. This approach places a strong emphasis on identifying individual risks, triggers and protective factors and having effective care plans in place to record, address and mitigate risks.
All new members of staff with prisoner contact receive training on suicide and self-harm prevention.
We continue to work with Samaritans to provide support in the period following a self-inflicted death in order to reduce the risk of further deaths and for the delivery of the Listener scheme, through which selected prisoners are trained to provide emotional support to their fellow prisoners.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Lichfield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many deaths by suicide there have been of people in prison in England and Wales for each year in the last decade.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Self-inflicted deaths are any deaths of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life irrespective of intent. This not only includes suicides, but also accidental deaths as a result of the person's own actions.
Year | Self-inflicted deaths 1,2,3,4 |
2015 | 90 |
2016 | 124 |
2017 | 73 |
2018 | 93 |
2019 | 86 |
2020 | 67 |
2021 | 89 |
2022 | 77 |
2023 | 96 |
2024 | 89 |
Data Sources and Quality:
These figures are derived from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System and the HMPPS Deaths in Prison Custody database. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Although the figures are shown to the last individual the figures may not be accurate to that level.
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 - Due to the number of deaths that remain unclassified (awaiting further information) in recent years, and the latest year particularly, caution should be used when comparing with earlier periods.
3 - A proportion of the most recent two years' figures for 'other' deaths are expected to be re-classified as natural causes or self-inflicted deaths.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that prisoners are not at risk of harm or violence while serving their sentences.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Safety in prisons is a key priority and we are working hard to make prisons as safe as possible for those who live and work in them.
Safe prisons are vital to enable prisoners to engage in rehabilitative activities that reduce reoffending.
We are supporting prisons to effectively manage individuals who are violent or at risk of self-harm or suicide and providing prison officers with the right tools to do their jobs.
Prisons have a range of physical security measures to counter the smuggling of contraband such as drugs, mobile phones and weapons – that drive prison violence and undermine safety. We have rolled out over 13,000 Body Worn Video Cameras across adult public sector prisons which means that every Band 3-5 officer has access to a camera whilst on shift.
All new members of staff with prisoner contact receive training on suicide and self-harm prevention, and violence reduction. In addition, a violence reduction, and a gangs and harmful group behaviour training module are available to help staff better understand the drivers of violence and how to mitigate and manage these risks. All staff who undertake key roles relating to risk assessment and case management for those at a raised risk of suicide and self-harm or of being violent also receive specific training relating to these roles.