Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department has taken to reduce the incidence of self-harm in prisons.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Government is committed to reducing the incidence of self-harm in prisons. All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves. These include the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, which is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for prisoners identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm.

An additional £10m of new funding, supplemented by £2.9m from existing budgets, was recently allocated to the 69 prisons with the most concerning levels of violence and self-harm. The Justice Secretary is clear that safety in prisons is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans.