Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many deaths have been recorded at HMP Wandsworth since 30 June 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Deaths recorded by prison are published as part of our Safety in Custody statistics, updated quarterly, and available in the Deaths Data Tool at the following link: Safety in custody: quarterly update to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Please note that deaths at Wandsworth are currently published from 30 June 2023 – end of December 2023. Figures to the end of March 2024 are not due for publication until April 2024 and cannot be released at this time.
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.
In addition to deaths in prison custody which occur in hospitals, hospices or nursing homes, a small proportion will occur while in an ambulance on the way to hospital, while the prisoner is under escort.
Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners.
We have implemented a revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) case management approach across the prison estate. Revisions in ACCT v6 include a stronger emphasis on taking a person-centred approach; better multi-disciplinary team working; a consistent quality assurance process and an improved focus on identifying and addressing an individual’s risks, triggers and protective factors.
We are implementing a new safety training package for staff. It brings together related safety topics, including suicide and self-harm prevention and understanding risks, triggers and protective factors.
We fund Samaritans through a grant providing total funding of just under £2 million between 2022 and 2025. This is primarily for the delivery of the Listener scheme (through which selected prisoners are trained to provide support to fellow prisoners in emotional distress).
We have also worked with Samaritans to develop a postvention response to providing support in the period following a self-inflicted death in order to reduce the risk of further deaths. This has been successfully piloted and the renewed grant includes funding for this service to be maintained until March 2025.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help reduce discrimination faced by people of restricted growth.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to improving life choices and opportunities for disabled people in their private lives, in their communities and in employment. We want everyone, including people of restricted growth, to live their lives free from discrimination and harassment.
The Equality Act 2010 may protect people of restricted growth on the grounds of disability, depending on the particular circumstances. The 2010 Act defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”. An employer or a service provider is required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not put at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people.
On 5 February 2024 we published the final Disability Action Plan together with the independent analysis of the consultation findings. The Disability Action Plan sets out 32 practical actions in 14 different areas which the government will take forward over the next 12 months, with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations, and other government departments and public service providers, to improve disabled people’s daily lives, as well as laying the foundations for longer term change.
Any disabled person who may have been personally discriminated against in employment or provision of services because of a disability may contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), the government helpline established to provide free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns. The EASS can be contacted via their website at www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/, or by telephone on 0808 8000082.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the document entitled the National Partnership Agreement for Health and Social Care for England: improving the quality of services for people in prison and those subject to statutory supervision by the probation service in the community 2022-2025, if she will make a comparative assessment with Cabinet colleagues of standards of healthcare received by (a) prisoners at HMP Wandsworth and (b) the general population.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are no plans to make such an assessment. As set out in the National Partnership Agreement for Health and Social Care for England, healthcare services in all prisons in England, including HMP Wandsworth, are commissioned by NHS England to national specifications, to make sure that prisoners receive the same standards of healthcare as the general population.