Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information he has received from Regional Directors of Probation on the number of (a) self-inflicted deaths and (b) deaths from other causes among adult (i) women and (ii) men under the care of probation services in the community in each month since March 2020.

The publication of the Deaths of Offenders in the Community statistics for 2019-20 has been delayed following the introduction of a new method of data collection which has necessitated further work to ensure that the data meets the required publication standards. We intend to publish the statistics as soon as possible and will finalise the date and pre-announce it in the near future.

Information on deaths of offenders in the community since March 2020 is not currently available, with the exception of the limited number of deaths that are specifically related to COVID-19, which are reported in the HMPPS COVID-19 Statistics. Preparation for the next annual publication will begin early in the new year to ensure that publication is timely. This forms part of a wider programme to improve our data on deaths of offenders in the community to better inform work preventing such deaths.