Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve support offered to prison staff after involvement in violent or distressing incidents.
The wellbeing of employees is paramount. All HMPPS staff have access to an occupational health service, and employee assistance programme (EAP). This includes 24 hour, 365 days a year access to signposting and counselling, and trauma support services. Additionally, each prison has a Care Team who support staff through a range of challenging circumstances, including violent or distressing incidents.
HMPPS are proactively rolling out a series of workshops in prisons run by EAP on subjects such as ‘mental health and suicide awareness’, and ‘working with trauma in prisons’.
Alongside support already in place, a new Mental Health Allies role has been successfully piloted in the MOJ and will be rolled out across HMPPS over the next twelve months. These Allies are trained volunteers who listen, empathise and signpost where appropriate, complementing the work undertaken by other support staff
The Government is investing £2.75 billion to make our jails safer - creating 10,000 additional places and stepping up security to cut crime and violence behind bars.