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 - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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 Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average length of (1) a completed prison governor tenure, and (2) existing prison governor tenures.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
(1) The average length of service of a completed prison governor tenure who left over the last 5 years is 4.2 years.
To note, the averages are based on total governor tenure (which would include them moving to different prisons) and not specific to time spent in one post.
(2) As at 30 June 2020, existing prison governors had spent an average of 2.7 years in their current post.
To note, this includes substantive band 10-11 Governing Governors only and does not include any deputy governors who may be filling the role on a temporary promotion.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of prison governors have stayed in post for more than (1) two, and (2) three years.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As at 30th June 2020, 48% of prison governors had stayed in their current post for more than two years, and 39% had stayed in their current post for more than three years.
To note, this includes substantive band 10-11 Governing Governors only and does not include any deputy governors who may be filling the role on a temporary promotion.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in increasing awareness of the Assisted Prisons Visits scheme among (1) prisoners, and (2) visitors, since the publication of the report by the National Offender Management Service Families Do Matter Project Report 2009, which found that 38 per cent of prisoners and visitors were unaware of that scheme.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A new online Help with Visits service (formerly known as the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme) was introduced in June 2017 to simplify the application process and the ease of access to the service for members of the public who are visiting prisons.
Family service providers have continued to assist HMPPS with raising the profile of the Help with Visits Scheme and, through their service user forum, have provided feedback on the design of the updated literature. This will be launched once Covid-19 restrictions ease across the prison estate.
Additionally, a pilot across a number of prisons will be used to review eligibility criteria to help inform potential changes that may be made to improve access to social visits for prisoners and their families.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children who were living with people now in prison, are currently living with the prisoners' partners.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The information requested is not held centrally and could not be collated without incurring disproportionate cost as individual records would need to be analysed.