Written Question on Prisoners: Mental Illness

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Date Title Questioner
12 Sep 2017, 11:03 a.m. Prisoners: Mental Illness David Hanson

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners who have been identified with mental health issues (i) have been subsequently moved to a secure mental health hospital, (ii) are still in the prison where those issues were identified, (iii) have moved prison and (iv) have been moved to a bail hostel in each of the last seven years.

Answer (Mr Sam Gyimah)

The total number of prisoners who have been transferred to a secure hospital under sections 47 or 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in each of the last seven years, and the numbers of those prisoners recorded as male or female areis set out below:

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Male

1011

881

884

994

1084

1067

1071

Female

85

123

112

107

104

106

104

Total

1096

1004

996

1101

1188

1173

1175

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Total

945

953

979

990

1,061

1,010

980

It is not possible to provide a breakdown of these figures by gender; this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Data on how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners who have been identified with mental health issues (ii) are still in the prison where those issues were identified, (iii) have moved prison and (iv) have been moved to a bail hostel in each of the last seven years is not collected centrally. We take the mental health of prisoners extremely seriously, which is why we have increased the support available to vulnerable offenders - especially during the first 24 hours in custody - and invested more in mental health awareness training for prison officers. We are putting more funding into prison safety and have embarked on major Prison Safety Programme, in order to reduce the number of self-inflicted deaths and incidents of self-harm in our prisons. But we recognise that more can be done and continue to work in partnership with HMPPS, NHS England and Public Health England to improve mental health services for offenders at all points of the criminal justice system.
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