Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support prisoners with mental health problems.

Providing appropriate treatment at the right time is vital to improve outcomes for people with mental health problems. All new prisoners accepted by a prison are assessed on reception by a health care professional on arrival at the prison. Where appropriate, prisoners may be referred to a range of individual or group mental health interventions. In the most serious cases, prisoners may be transferred to secure hospital on the recommendation of two psychiatrists