Written question asked by Lord Bellingham (Conservative) on Tuesday, 13 June 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 15 June 2006. It was answered by Gerry Sutcliffe (Labour) on Monday, 3 July 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

Prisons

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the possible correlation between overcrowding and self-harm in the (a) male, (b) female and (c) juvenile prison estate; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Overcrowding, and its subsequent effects in terms of prisoners’ distance from home, prisoner transfers and the time prisoners spend out of their cells, may be one factor in heightening the distress linked to suicide. However, the most important explanation of why prisoners harm and kill themselves is that a high proportion of prisoners arrive in prison with risk factors such as a history of abuse or drugs/alcohol problems. This is true for all parts of the prison estate.

Secondary information