Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of mental ill health in prisoners on HM Prison Service.

In response to both the Justice Select Committee’s inquiry on Mental Health in Prisons and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation’s inspection of the Criminal Justice Journey for Individuals with Mental Health Needs and Disorders, health and justice partners set out a wide range of commitments to improve mental health support in prisons, committing to ensuring that people in prison have access to an equivalent standard, range, and quality of health care in prisons to that available in the wider community.

Since the inquiries, the Government has published a draft Mental Health Bill, which is now subject to pre-legislative scrutiny. The Bill includes vital reforms to support people with serious mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. This includes speeding up access to specialist in-patient care and treatment by ending the use of prison as a ‘place of safety’ and establishing a new statutory time limit of 28 days for transfers from prison to hospital.

In partnership with the Centre for Mental Health, NHS England recently completed a national mental health needs analysis for prisoners. This data will feed into a refreshed mental health service specification by April 2023 to ensure that services continue to be tailored to the needs of people in prison.

The Ministry of Justice is committed to continuing to work closely with NHS England to improve services in prison, ensuring that people have access to timely and effective mental health care. This ongoing commitment is reflected in the new National Partnership Agreement on Health and Social Care in England, which is due to be published shortly.