Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what requirements there are to hold an independent investigation into the unexpected death of a child (a) in a prison, (b) in an NHS-funded inpatient unit and (c) in the community on day release from an NHS-funded inpatient unit.

Any death of a young person in an inpatient service is fully investigated and learned from.

The systems in place for reporting and reviewing deaths were developed at different times and fulfil different functions. These include:

- Serious Incident Review for each serious untoward incident;

- Child Deaths Overview Panels which are carried out at local level into every child death and reported to the Department for Education;

- Coroners can write to the Secretary of State (or anyone else they feel have lessons to learn) to draw his attention to specific issues of concern after the death of a child; and

- The Care Quality Commission requires providers to report the death of any detained patient (though few children and young people are detained under the Mental Health Act).

Prison policy is a matter for the Ministry of Justice.