§ 58 and 59. Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners now serving sentences have a recorded history of mental instability;
(2) how many prisoners now serving sentences have, in the past or at the present time, been certified as insane in Her Majesty's Penal Institutions, Broad-moor and Rampton, respectively.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsInformation is not readily available as to the number of prisoners know to have a past history of mental instability but psychiatric treatment is available for mentally unstable prisoners. Grendon Underwood, opened in 1962, was established to provide the special help such prisoners need.
On 14th November, 164 persons subject to sentences of imprisonment were detained in psychiatric hospitals following transfer from prison for treatment for mental disorder under the Mental Health Act, 1959, or earlier statutory provisions. Of those detained in special hospitals 62 were in Broadmoor, 34 in Rampton, and 17 in Moss Side.