Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the Criminal Justice System in the White Paper on reforms of the Mental Health Act.

The latest published data suggests that 28% of offenders (48,349) had a learning difficulty or challenge (LDC), out of 170,710 offenders in custody and the community with a Layer 3 (full) Offender Assessment System (OASys) assessment from June 2018.

As set out in our Sentencing White Paper ‘A Smarter Approach to Sentencing’, we want to improve awareness of neurodiversity in the Criminal Justice System (CJS), provide staff with the confidence and knowledge to better support neurodivergent individuals, and support them to engage meaningfully with the rehabilitative aspect of their sentence.

To support this work, in December 2020, MoJ launched an Independent Call for Evidence on neurodiversity in the CJS. This will enable us to obtain a clearer picture of prevalence including those with ADHD, and how we can better support them in future to realise better outcomes.

NHS England’s Liaison and Diversion Services (L&D) operate at police stations and courts to identify people who have vulnerabilities, including neurodisability, when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system, as well as at point of sentence. We are working very closely with health partners and will share the relevant findings of the Call for Evidence with them.

The provision of healthcare – including screening for ADHD and treatment - across the secure estate falls under commissioning by NHS England/Improvement and NHS Wales. All people in prisons receive an early health assessment within the first 24 hours of entry. The initial assessment is fully comprehensive to ensure that all of the physical and health needs of an individual are identified and addressed at an early stage.

Where a person’s mental health condition is of a nature or degree that warrants hospital detention the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) provides powers for the court or the Justice Secretary to divert the individual away from the criminal justice system to hospital for assessment and/or treatment.

The recently published White Paper, Reforming the Mental Health Act, sets out proposals to improve provision for those in the criminal justice system with serious mental disorder. The White Paper does not specifically address the position of those with ADHD within the criminal justice system, but all those within the criminal justice system currently detained or eligible for detention under the Mental Health Act will benefit equally from these reforms, regardless of diagnosis.