Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many serving prisoners have died (1) by suicide, and (2) from natural causes, in each year from 2010 to date.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The number of deaths in prison by apparent cause is published in the Safety in Custody statistical bulletin which is available at http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics.
Reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons is a key priority for the Government. We are working hard to understand the reasons for the recent rise, but, as is the case in society at large, there is no simple explanation with complex and individual reasons behind any suicide.
We have dedicated resources providing support every day in prisons and have created a specialist team to help share good practice as part of our strenuous efforts to learn from each death.
Young adults are a particularly challenging and vulnerable group, and that is why we have commissioned an independent review into the deaths of 18 to 24-year-olds in prison custody.