§ Dr. Evan HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suicides of(a) women and (b) men occurred in prison in England in the (i) last six years and (ii) most recent year for which figures are available. [70609]
Hilary HennThe information requested is given in the table.
Number of self-inflicted deaths for males and females in prisons in England and Wales, 1996 to 20021 Male Female Total 1996 62 2 64 1997 65 3 68 1998 80 3 83 1999 86 5 91 2000 73 8 81 2001 67 6 73 20022 44 3 47 Total 853 39 892 1 To 15 July 2002 2 To date The Prison Service employs the term "self-inflicted death" (which includes all those deaths where it appears that the person may have acted specifically to take his/her own life) rather than suicide.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 26 February 2002,Official Report, column 1239W, on prison hospital suicides, if he will make a statement on the timetable for the Prison Service review of the suicide prevention strategy; and what progress has been made. [68261]
829W
§ Hilary Benn[holding answer 5 July 2002]: The Prison Service suicide prevention strategy was reviewed in 2000 and my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw), the then Home Secretary, announced the launch of the new three-year suicide and self-harm strategy in February 2001. Work on the development of the new strategy started in April 2001 and will run to March 2004.
One of the projects currently being developed as part of the new strategy is the Care of Prisoners project. This project includes a review of procedures for prisoners at risk of suicide and self-harm (the F2052SH system) referred to in the answer to my right hon. Friend's question of 26 February. A new process for managing at risk prisoners is being developed and will be piloted in the autumn.