Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons in England and Wales in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

The Government publishes statistics on deaths in prison custody, including self-inflicted deaths, quarterly and updated detailed tables annually. They can be viewed on gov.uk.

The Government believes that prisons should be places of safety and reform. The number of self-inflicted deaths is extremely concerning and we are committed to reducing it. Our recent White Paper set out specific steps that we are taking to improve safety. They include investing over £100m to recruit an additional 2,500 staff across the estate by the end of 2018.

We will carefully study the details of all deaths in custody to determine whether there are any patterns, or lessons to be learned, to further our understanding of why these tragic events happen.

We have also put in place a range of measures in place to help support prisoners who are at risk of self-harm or suicide, especially in the first 24 hours where prisoners are at their most vulnerable. We are also investing more in specialist mental health training for staff. The National Offender Management Service is also undertaking a suicide and self-harm reduction project, led by an experienced prison governor, which is driving work in this area.