§ Mr. Greg KnightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-natural deaths have occurred in prisons in England and Wales during the last five years for which figures are available. [148607]
§ Paul GogginsThe information requested is provided in the following table:
Number of self-inflicted deaths1 Number of homicides2 Other non-natural causes of deaths3 1999 91 0 0 2000 81 3 1 2001 73 0 0 2002 95 0 2 2003 94 1 1 1 The Prison Service employs the term "self-inflicted death" which includes all those deaths where it appears the person may have acted specifically to take his/her own life. 2 Includes alleged homicides 3 Includes accidents Reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and instances of self-harm in prison establishments is a ministerial and Prison Service priority. A proactive three-year programme to develop policies and practices to reduce prisoner suicide and manage self- harm began in April 2001. The programme has included: 223W
The training of suicide prevention coordinators, now operating in the majority of prisonsThe increased provision of prisoner peer support through schemes such as 'Insiders' and Samaritan-led 'Listeners'An investment of £21 million in six 'safer local' prisons: Feltham, Leeds, Wandsworth, Winchester, Eastwood Park and BirminghamProjects to develop safer prison design. including safer cellsOver recent months a wide-ranging review of this programme has taken place in consultation with partner agencies such as the Youth Justice Board and outside organisations such as Samaritans, taking into account the evaluations of pilot projects and emerging research findings. This review will inform future suicide prevention strategy beyond April 2004.
The Prison Service is also developing a violence reduction strategy that re-addresses problems of inter-prisoner violence and bullying by providing a national framework of protective mechanisms and positive behaviour management. A new national cell-sharing risk assessment tool was introduced in June 2002 to enable staff at reception to identify those who may be high-risk prisoners, to prevent cell sharing that may generate prisoner-on-prisoner assaults, and to take the necessary steps to minimise potential harm to others. This procedure is currently being revised in the light of the alleged homicide in 2003.