§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take to remove mentally disordered persons from prison.
§ Mr. MellorThere is continuing co-operation between the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Security to find ways of easing the difficulties which may sometimes be experienced in finding a suitable hospital place for a mentally disordered offender. Over the last few 417W years there has been a steady decline in the number of people in prison department establishments who are considered to be mentally disordered and an increase in the number transferred from prison to hospitals which are encouraging signs that these efforts have been successful. We hope that this will continue. In addition, the programme of construction of regional secure units, which will extend the range of facilities available in the National Health Service, is now well under way and the Mental Health (Amendment) Act 1982 contains useful new powers which, when they come into force, should enable the courts to divert more mentally disordered offenders from prison department custody.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the number of persons in prison at any one time who have some form of mental illness or mental handicap.
§ Mr. MellorPrison medical officers make six-monthly returns giving details of those in prison department establishments whom they consider to be mentally disordered within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1959. On 30 September 1982 this census recorded 210 who were mentally ill and 25 who were subnormal or severely subnormal.