Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that community-based legal advice on employment issues, including sexual harassment, is available to workers.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
Legal aid is available for advice in relation to breaches of the Equality Act 2010 or previous discrimination legislation (including in employment cases), subject to means and merits tests. Legal aid is also available in employment cases where the applicant is a victim of trafficking or modern slavery. Where an issue falls outside the scope of legal aid, individuals can apply for Exceptional Case Funding.
In 2025/26, the Ministry of Justice will continue to provide nearly £6 million of funding to 60 frontline organisations to help improve access to legal support and advice, including for vulnerable individuals with employment issues.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will respond to the UN Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights "List of issues in relation to the seventh periodic report of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"; and what other related actions are planned.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
The Government is currently preparing its response to the United Nations Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ List of Issues Report, in relation to the Seventh Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and will provide it to the UN shortly. We have had regular contact with the secretariat to the Committee on the timetable for our response.
The Government will then prepare for the interactive dialogue with the Committee which is expected to take place in 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what records they keep on the number of (1) suicides, and (2) attempted suicides, in prisons in England and Wales; whether, and if so where, those records are published; and how they utilise those records to track health and well-being outcomes in each prison where such records are kept.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The data on self-inflicted deaths and self-harm across the prison estates is recorded in our published Safety in Custody Statistics. The number and rates of deaths and self-harm across the estate is published quarterly in the Safety in Custody Summary Tables, the latest version of which can be found at: Safety-in-custody-summary-q1-2024_final_table.xlsx (live.com).
HMPPS does not produce official statistics on suicides or attempted suicides, because it is not always known whether a person engaging in self-harming behaviour intends or intended to die by suicide. We therefore collect data on self-inflicted deaths (a term that we use to refer to any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life irrespective of intent) and on incidents of self-harm.
This national data informs the development of the prison safety programme, and governors use local data to understand their populations and their safety risks and to inform their safety strategies. Each prison holds a regular safety meeting that includes discussion of the local self-harm data and learning from any self-inflicted deaths that have occurred there.
Individuals assessed as at risk of suicide and self-harm are given individualised support through our case management process. This approach places a strong emphasis on having effective care plans in place to record, address and mitigate risks.