Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of people in prison with traumatic brain injuries.

The MoJ does not hold information on the number of prisoners who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. NHS England commission health care services in prison and include questions on head injury in the secondary health screen which all prisoners receive.

Recent studies that have examined the prevalence of traumatic brain injury in prisons in England and Wales indicate this may affect between 46 to 70 per cent of the male population. On 6^th February 2019, The Disabilities Trust published their ‘Making the Link’ Evaluation Report on their service to support female offenders with acquired brain injury in HMP Drake Hall. The report found that, of the 173 female offenders screened at HMP Drake Hall, 64% reported a history indicative of a brain injury. Additionally, in 2017-2018, The Disabilities Trust ran a Brain Injury Linkworker pilot at six sites in the adult male estate. It is expected that the evaluation from this pilot will be published in due course.

MoJ has formed a cross-government group on Acquired Brain Injury with colleagues from NHS England, DHSC, the Home Office and HMPPS. This group will consider the findings from both pilots, alongside other emerging evidence, to help determine next steps to better support this cohort of vulnerable offenders.