§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many young remand prisoners have mental health problems; and what steps he is taking to assist them. [82750]
§ Jacqui SmithA survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics in 1997 estimated that 95 per cent. of all young offenders in prison had some form of mental disorder. In 2000, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 96 prisoners—both remand and sentenced-between the ages of 17 and 20 were transferred to hospital on mental health grounds.
353WAll prisons holding juveniles or young offenders are involved in work to implement the improvements set out in Changing the Outlook, a Strategy for Developing and Modernising Mental Health Services in Prisons, published in December 2001. In addition, those prisons holding persons judged to have the greatest mental health needs will be part of the prison mental health in-reach project by March 2004.
§ Dr. Evan HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish a mental health bill; and if he will make a statement. [83806]
§ Jacqui SmithA draft Mental Health Bill and consultation document was published on 25 June 2002. The consultation exercise closed on 16 September and
1998 to 1999 1999 to 2000 2001–2002 2001 to 2002 Hearing Impairment New specialist workers 133 123 146 195 Other training for specialist workers 635 538 468 527 Awareness training for generalist or non-specialist workers 4,145 3,294 5,213 5,639 Total 4,913 3,955 5,827 6,361 Deaf Blind Impairment New specialist workers 16 86 81 130 Other training for specialist workers 290 143 185 293 Awareness training for generalist or non-specialist workers 1,166 1,330 1,811 2,391 Total 1,472 1,559 2,077 2,814