Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2017 to Question 109680, on prisons: suicide, how many and what proportion of self-inflicted deaths were prisoners (a) on medication for mental health issues and (b) participating in talking therapies at the time of their death.
This information is not collected centrally.
Every self-inflicted death in prison custody is independently investigated by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) and is the subject of a coroner’s inquest. We take the findings of these investigations very seriously. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service works with healthcare partners to ensure that action is taken to address the recommendations made by the PPO, and any matters of concern brought to our attention by coroners, including any that relate to the provision of medication or therapies for mental health conditions.