Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Periodic visit to the United Kingdom carried out by the CPT from 8 to 21 June 2021 and the Government response, what steps he will take to help reduce the length of time that prisoners in England and Wales diagnosed with a serious mental illness and who have already been assessed as requiring treatment in a psychiatric hospital remain in prison before being transferred.

The Ministry of Justice is committed to working with health partners to improve the timeliness of transfers from prison to hospital under the Mental Health Act.  As stated in the Government’s response to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment’s report, we recognise that in some cases this currently takes far too long.

That is why last month the Government published a draft Mental Health Bill which introduces a new statutory time limit of 28-days for transfers from prisons to hospital. This time limit, together with operational improvements, will help reduce unnecessary delays and ensure people in the criminal justice system receive swift access to treatment.

The draft Bill will also end the use of prison as a ‘place of safety’. This will end the practice of courts diverting offenders or defendants requiring assessment and treatment in an inpatient setting to prison when there are no hospital beds available, ensuring vulnerable offenders are able to access the right support in the right environment.

The draft Bill will now be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny.