Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce the incidence of suicide in prisons.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Government believes that prisons should be places of safety and reform. As part of this, reducing the incidence of suicide is a key priority. Our recent White Paper sets out the specific steps that we are taking to improve safety. They include investing over £100m to recruit an additional 2,500 staff across the estate by the end of 2018. The National Offender Management Service has launched a suicide and self-harm reduction project, led by an experienced prison governor, which is driving work in this area. This includes implementing the recommendations of a review of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, the multi-disciplinary case management process that is the main tool for managing prisoners at risk of suicide and self-harm. Providing the right intervention and treatment is vital to improving the outcomes for people who are in distress, and all prisons have established procedures in place to identify, manage and support people at risk of suicide or self-harm. But we recognise that more can be done. That is why we have invested in specialist mental health training for prison officers and allocated more funding for prison safety. These improvements and reforms will benefit prisoners who are vulnerable, suffering from mental health problems or at risk of committing suicide.Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of BME adults in UK prisons have previously been imprisoned in youth offending institutions, by (a) age, (b) sex and (c) ethnicity; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Selous
It is not possible to identify the number of BME adult prisoners in England and Wales who have previously been held in a Young Offender Institution. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of BME individuals by (a) age, (b) sex and (c) ethnicity who are excluded from secondary school, are subsequently imprisoned in youth offending institutions; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Selous
The Government is transforming youth custody to put education at the heart of detention and equip young offenders with the skills, qualifications and self-discipline they need to lead productive, law-abiding lives on release. The Government is introducing Secure Colleges, a pioneering approach to youth custody with education and training at the forefront, and more than doubling the amount of hours of education provided in Young Offenders Institutes (YOIs).
Information on permanent and fixed period exclusions from school, including a breakdown by type of school, pupil age, sex and ethnicity, is published by the Department for Education.
Figures for the academic year 2012 to 2013 can be found in the tables published at the following location:
The full publication can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2012-to-2013
However, no information is available to indicate how many of these individuals were subsequently imprisoned in young offender institutions. This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of BME people held in young offender institutions were previously excluded from school.
Answered by Andrew Selous
Please see the recent survey by HM Inspectorate Prisons of young people under 18 in Young Offender Institutions, 81% of BME young people reported having been excluded from school:
The Government is transforming youth custody to put education at the heart of detention and equip young offenders with the skills, qualifications and self-discipline they need to lead productive, law-abiding lives on release. On 15 December new contracts were awarded which will more than double the current average number of hours of education provided in Young Offender Institutions each week and the Government intends that education will be at the heart of the new Secure College opening in 2017.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) age, (b) sex and (c) ethnicity is of people held in youth offending insititutions.
Answered by Andrew Selous
The tables below detail the (a) age, (b) gender and (c) ethnicity of young offenders detained in each of these types of establishment since 2010/11.
Table A: monthly average under-18 custody population by accommodation type and age from 2010/11 to 2014/15 (April 2014 to October 2014).
Accommodation type | Age | 2012/13 | 2013/14* | 2014/15 (April to October)* |
Secure Children's Homes | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
13 | 13 | 6 | 6 | |
14 | 30 | 26 | 22 | |
15 | 51 | 40 | 27 | |
16 | 36 | 39 | 26 | |
17 | 11 | 20 | 17 | |
Total | 142 | 130 | 99 | |
Secure Training Centres | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
14 | 21 | 18 | 16 | |
15 | 88 | 78 | 63 | |
16 | 102 | 98 | 90 | |
17 | 41 | 71 | 75 | |
Total | 253 | 265 | 245 | |
Young Offender Institutions | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
15 | 59 | 42 | 41 | |
16 | 291 | 229 | 198 | |
17 | 798 | 566 | 501 | |
Total | 1,149 | 837 | 740 | |
Total | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
13 | 13 | 7 | 7 | |
14 | 51 | 43 | 38 | |
15 | 199 | 160 | 131 | |
16 | 428 | 365 | 314 | |
17 | 851 | 656 | 592 | |
Total | 1,544 | 1,233 | 1,084 |
Table B: monthly average under-18 custody population by accommodation type and gender from 2010/11 to 2014/15 (April 2014 to October 2014).
Accommodation type | Gender | 2012/13 | 2013/14* | 2014/15 (April to October)* |
Secure Children's Homes | Female | 22 | 22 | 17 |
Male | 121 | 108 | 83 | |
Total | 142 | 130 | 99 | |
Secure Training Centres | Female | 30 | 33 | 31 |
Male | 223 | 233 | 214 | |
Total | 253 | 265 | 245 | |
Young Offender Institutions | Female | 20 | 2 | 0 |
Male | 1,128 | 835 | 740 | |
Total | 1,149 | 837 | 740 | |
Total | Female | 72 | 57 | 48 |
Male | 1,472 | 1,176 | 1,036 | |
Total | 1,544 | 1,233 | 1,084 |
Table C: monthly average under-18 custody population by accommodation type and ethnicity from 2010/11 to 2014/15 (April 2014 to October 2014).
Accommodation type | Ethnicity | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14* | 2014/15 (April to October)* |
Secure Children's Homes | Asian | 9 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
Black | 12 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 12 | |
Mixed | 5 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 10 | |
Not Available | 13 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
Other | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
White | 126 | 124 | 112 | 97 | 70 | |
Total | 165 | 166 | 142 | 130 | 99 | |
Secure Training Centres | Asian | 13 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 11 |
Black | 38 | 42 | 53 | 55 | 60 | |
Mixed | 19 | 17 | 28 | 26 | 27 | |
Not Available | 21 | 28 | 4 | 5 | 2 | |
Other | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
White | 173 | 176 | 148 | 162 | 143 | |
Total | 264 | 280 | 253 | 265 | 245 | |
Young Offender Institutions | Asian | 107 | 111 | 82 | 64 | 61 |
Black | 301 | 256 | 258 | 197 | 160 | |
Mixed | 98 | 96 | 99 | 70 | 66 | |
Not Available | 97 | 137 | 47 | 26 | 5 | |
Other | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 12 | |
White | 1,004 | 916 | 652 | 470 | 434 | |
Total | 1,610 | 1,517 | 1,149 | 837 | 740 | |
Total | Asian | 129 | 131 | 103 | 86 | 76 |
Black | 351 | 308 | 325 | 263 | 233 | |
Mixed | 123 | 119 | 135 | 107 | 104 | |
Not Available | 131 | 186 | 54 | 35 | 8 | |
Other | 3 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 17 | |
White | 1,303 | 1,216 | 912 | 728 | 647 | |
Total | 2,040 | 1,963 | 1,544 | 1,233 | 1,084 |
* The 2013/14 and 2014/15 data are provisional. The final 2013/14 figures will be confirmed in the 2013/14 Youth Justice Statistics in January 2015, and the final 2014/15 figures will be confirmed in the 2014/15 Youth Justice Statistics in 2016.
These figures are averages of 12-monthly snapshots of the custodial population in the secure estate for children and young people, taken on the last Friday of the month or first Friday of the following month, depending on which is nearer to the actual month end.
The information comes from the Youth Justice Board’s (YJB's) Secure Accommodation Clearing House System (SACHS) database and eAsset database. Information from April 2012 comes from the YJB's eAsset database which replaced the SACHS database for placing young people in custody.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the number of prisoners declaring themselves to be lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered.
Answered by Andrew Selous
The number of prisoners in England and Wales broken down by sexual orientation as at 26 September 2014 is shown in the table below:
Table: Headcount of prisoners by Sexual Orientation as at 26 September 2014
Sexual Orientation | Headcount |
Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Other | 1779 |
Heterosexual / Straight | 63738 |
Not Asked/Refused to State | 20117 |
Grand Total | 85634 |
Transgender Prisoners with a Gender Recognition Certificate are recorded on administrative systems as their legal gender. In accordance with the Gender Recognition Act of 2004 and the Equality Act 2010, transgender individuals are not identified as being transgender on administrative systems.