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1564532

	registered interest
	date	06/01/2023
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of mental health support provision in the Prisons Estate.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
	uin	117916
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2023 answer text <p>In response to both the Justice Select Committee’s inquiry on Mental Health in Prisons and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation’s inspection of the Criminal Justice Journey for Individuals with Mental Health Needs and Disorders, health and justice partners set out a wide range of commitments to improve mental health support in prisons, committing to ensuring that people in prison have access to an equivalent standard, range, and quality of health care in prisons to that available in the wider community.</p><p> </p><p>Since the inquiries, the Government has published a draft Mental Health Bill, which is now subject to pre-legislative scrutiny. The Bill includes vital reforms to support people with serious mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. This includes speeding up access to specialist in-patient care and treatment by ending the use of prison as a ‘place of safety’ and establishing a new statutory time limit of 28 days for transfers from prison to hospital.</p><p> </p><p>In partnership with the Centre for Mental Health, NHS England recently completed a national mental health needs analysis for prisoners. This data will feed into a refreshed mental health service specification by April 2023 to ensure that services continue to be tailored to the needs of people in prison.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice is committed to continuing to work closely with NHS England to improve services in prison, ensuring that people have access to timely and effective mental health care. This ongoing commitment is reflected in the new National Partnership Agreement on Health and Social Care in England, which is due to be published shortly.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 117918 question first answered 16/01/2023 13:45:19 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1347419

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders of the Offender Personality Disorder pathway programme are (a) male and (b) female.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	33873
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2021 answer text <p>The Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway is a clinically led joint initiative with the NHS. It is not a single intervention rather a series of different interventions tailored for individuals based on clinical need.</p><p> </p><p>The number and proportions of men and women in custody and in the community who had been screened into the OPD pathway as of 30 June 2021 is displayed in the table below. The figures relate to all those within the Probation Service caseload who are identified as being eligible for OPD services. Being screened into the programme does not mean an individual will automatically receive intervention. This is an administrative process to identify those who may fit the programme criteria. Intervention pathways are determined through further assessment and sentence planning.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Gender</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>People managed by the Probation Service screened into the OPD pathway (as of 30/06/21)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion of all people managed by the Probation Service who had been screened into the OPD pathway (as of 30/06/21)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Male</p></td><td><p>33,757</p></td><td><p>94.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Female</p></td><td><p>2,164</p></td><td><p>6.0%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and is the best data that is available. The data may differ slightly to that of the published statistics where data was run on a different date.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 23/07/2021 13:24:25 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1345484

	registered interest
	date	09/07/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled The future of prison mental health care in England, published by Centre for Mental Health on 25 June 2021, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing recommendations (a) one and (b) two of that Report.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	30330
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2021 answer text <p>The Government takes the mental health of people within the criminal justice system very seriously, and we welcome the Centre for Mental Health’s important report which was commissioned by NHS England and Improvement. We are actively considering the findings with health and justice partners.</p><p>Extensive work is already ongoing across the Department to make our prisons safer. We are improving our mental health training offer, including a specific trauma-informed module for all new staff. To bolster current support systems, we are piloting staff support leads who will be responsible for leading on wellbeing and support services. The intention is that these leads will be supporting all prisons later this year. In order to enable appropriate diversion from custody, Drug Rehabilitation Requirements (DRRs) and Alcohol treatment requirements (ATRs) are available in all courts as part of the existing national Community Sentence Treatment Requirements (CSTR) provision. These are being strengthened through Local Authority funding, and furthermore, Primary Care Mental Health Treatment requirements (MHTRs) are being made available as part of a roll out programme.</p><p>In January, together with the Department for Health and Social Care, we published a White Paper setting out proposals for landmark reform of the Mental Health Act and responding to the findings of the Wessely Review.   Among other reforms, this includes commitments to support offenders with serious mental health needs to access the care they need as quickly and early as possible. We are accepting, and intend to take forward, the vast majority of the Review’s recommendations, including a commitment to end the use of prison as a place of safety under the Mental Health Act.</p><p>The Government shares the objective of ensuring that the separate provision in the Bail Act 1976 is not used to remand in custody individuals suffering from severe mental health crises. However, the power in the Bail Act goes much wider than mental health. This power covers a broad range of situations and is a last resort where the court can see no other option for protecting the individual themselves, or on occasions, the public. We have therefore committed to review this area which will enable us to develop and implement the right approach to this issue.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 19/07/2021 15:52:24 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1362196

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Erlestoke, published on 15 October 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the creation of specialised units for neurodiverse prisoners who do not meet the criteria for a hospital order but cannot function in non-specialised prison environments.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	60374
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2021 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is committed to providing a supportive environment for neurodivergent prisoners.</p><p>Some of our prisons already have specialist wings, including HMP Parc and HMP Wakefield, which are designed to cater for the needs of neurodivergent individuals. Our future prison build programme will be informed by available evidence on design principles, including the Call for Evidence on Neurodiversity.</p><p>Prisons can also work with the National Autistic Society to achieve Autism Accreditation, which includes providing sensory rooms or separate wings for autistic prisoners and we are committed to promoting autism accreditation across the estate.</p><p>We are currently testing a new Neurodiversity Support Manager role in some prisons, who will be responsible for liaising with education and skills teams and ensuring that departments across the prison are aware of prisoners’ individual needs.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 29/10/2021 13:07:08 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1489992

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure DBS applications for mental health volunteers working with prisoners are processed swiftly.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol East
	tabling member printed	Kerry McCarthy
	uin	38550
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) operates to service standards of completing 80% of Basic check applications within 2 days, 80% of Standard check applications within 5 days, and 80% of Enhanced check applications within 14 days. DBS achieved these targets for 2021/22 and continues to do so for the current financial year.</p><p>The DBS cannot by law prioritise particular checks and does not provide a fast-track application service for any specific employment sector.</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 21/07/2022 13:20:37 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
	tabling member	1491 label Biography information for Kerry McCarthy

1552557

	registered interest
	date	16/12/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mental health support is available to prison staff.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Dr Rosena Allin-Khan
	uin	112144
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/01/2023 answer text <p>In full recognition of the challenging aspects of prison-based work, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is committed to providing a range of formal and peer led mental health support for prison staff. Modes of support offered include self-referral to counselling via a 24 hours and 365 days a year confidential telephone helpline and self-referral for online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Management led referrals are routed to the Occupational Health (OH) provider where assessments and feedback on fitness for work or work adjustments are relayed back to the manager with employee consent. OH assessments are conducted by qualified specialist nurses, doctors and mental health clinicians. For work related trauma management, face to face or virtual Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) is offered if clinically appropriate. OH also offers a Post-Covid 19 syndrome service which provides structured mental health support as well as physical support.</p><p> </p><p>Proactive mental health support, by the means of ‘Reflective Sessions’ is delivered by a third-party provider and mental health qualified practitioners. Reflective Sessions take the form of individual or group sessions at either HMPPS or supplier premises. The sessions aim to both reduce the likelihood that staff will experience adverse effects as a result of working on programmes with offenders or high-risk cases, and to increase the likelihood of the experience of positive effects as a result of this work. A wide range of mental health promotion proactive wellbeing workshops are also offered and delivered either via Teams or in person in prisons.</p><p> </p><p>Peer support groups include Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) practitioners, Care Teams and Mental Health Allies. Chaplains are also well-established to provide mental health support to prison staff and prisoners alike.</p><p> </p><p>Employee wellbeing apps are available to be downloaded on mobile phones and tablets which provide up to date guidance, support and signposting to a range of employee physical and mental health support services.</p><p> </p><p>In September 2020, working in collaboration with the Samaritans and the Zero Suicide Alliance, HMPPS introduced a staff self-harm and suicide prevention campaign, Reach Out, Save Lives. Backed by the Lord Chancellor, the campaign drives a consistent message about reaching out to support one another and seeking assistance and aims to impact and challenge cultural norms around a publicly sensitive topic.</p><p> </p><p>HMPPS Occupational Health and Employee Assistance policy and the Post Incident Care policy are in place to support staff.</p><p> </p><p>A comprehensive section on Stress Risk Assessment is available on the employee intranet Health and Safety site. Guidance includes a stress toolkit designed for both employees and managers.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 09/01/2023 13:49:29 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4573 label Biography information for Dr Rosena Allin-Khan

1144223

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what use his Department has made of mindfulness-based therapy techniques in (a) improving well-being and (b) reducing recidivism in the prison population.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	286125
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>Mindfulness-based therapy techniques are used in prisons in England and Wales. A summary of evidence relating to the impact of mindfulness on people in prison and on probation has been published and can be found at the following link; <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mindfulness-in-prison-and-probation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mindfulness-in-prison-and-probation</a> In addition to this, HMPPS Wales commissioned 2 studies in 2016 evaluating the impact of a mindfulness intervention at HMP Parc, Wales and within the National Probation Service Wales. Both staff and offenders took part in these studies. The research was led by Swansea University and the full reports, alongside a report from findings in the community, will be published later this year.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Our work on mindfulness is just part of our efforts to reduce recidivism and improve the prison estate. Over the past 3 years, we have invested £100m to provide additional Prison Officers to improve frontline safety, security and rehabilitation.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 286131 question first answered 09/09/2019 13:35:54 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1144225

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what use his Department has made of mindfulness-based techniques for (a) reducing stress and (b) improving well-being among prison staff.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	286127
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Mindfulness workshops forms part of a range of mental and physical health wellbeing workshops on offer to prison staff, with over 200 wellbeing days provided to prison establishments over the last two years. The workshops are also available on request through the HMPPS bespoke wellbeing initiative, <em>Wellness Together</em> programme which provides a series of workshops to selected prison establishments over a 12-week period.</p><p> </p><p>Some prisons also provide local independently organised staff mindfulness training sessions for instance, at lunch times.</p><p> </p><p>More widely, confidential counselling, wellbeing/lifestyle advice, wellbeing workshops, training and coaching to prison staff are also available to prison staff.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 09/09/2019 13:51:00 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1172339

	registered interest
	date	21/01/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of mental healthcare provision in UK prisons.
	tabling member constituency	Islwyn
	tabling member printed	Chris Evans
	uin	6097
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/01/2020 answer text <p>Health services in prisons are commissioned by NHS England and Improvement (NHSE/I) who are responsible for making assessments of the current provision of mental health services in the prison system in England. In Wales, health is devolved to the Welsh Government where separate arrangements are made.</p><p> </p><p>We take mental health provision very seriously and are committed to working closely with health partners to ensure that offenders are able to access the treatment and support required for their mental health needs. The health and justice partners include: Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHSE/I, and Public Health England (PHE). In prisons, this relationship has been formally set out in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/767832/6.4289_MoJ_National_health_partnership_A4-L_v10_web.pdff" target="_blank">National Partnership Agreement for Prison Healthcare in England</a>, which has been in place since April 2018. Its associated workplan sets out a detailed programme of work, agreed by health and justice partners, to deliver safe, decent, effective healthcare for offenders.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the importance of the prison environment for enabling better health outcomes. For example, we have worked to refresh safety training packages, with staff receiving training in key areas such as mental health and substance misuse. Over 25,000 new and existing prison staff (including those who work for other bodies) have now completed at least one module of the revised suicide and self-harm prevention training; 14,000 staff have received all six modules.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to work with our partners to improve mental healthcare in prisons.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 29/01/2020 13:53:56 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4040 label Biography information for Chris Evans

1140364

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answers of 16 May 2019 to Question 255325 and Question 255326 on mental health in prisons, whether the number of prison officers trained in the new suicide and self-harm reduction training is 14,000 or 24,000.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
	uin	279003
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>All staff who have contact with prisoners are required to undertake training in suicide and self-harm prevention. This includes key workers, who are uniformed prison officers. The training comprises six modules, one of which focuses on mental health awareness.</p><p> </p><p>At the time of the previous answers, more than 24,000 staff had undertaken at least one module of the training, and of those more than 14,000 had undertaken all six, including the mental health awareness element.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland grouped question UIN 279004 question first answered 23/07/2019 11:20:06 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah