Written question asked by Lord Garnier (Conservative) on Wednesday, 25 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 October 2007. It was answered by Bridget Prentice (Labour) on Monday, 8 October 2007 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons: Overcrowding

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of the self-inflicted deaths in prisons in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007 to date occurred inside prisons that were classified as overcrowded.

Answer

The information requested is provided in the following table.

	2006	¹2007
Total self-inflicted deaths² in custody	67	58
Self-inflicted deaths that occurred in prisons where the number of prisoners held in one or more cells exceeded Certified Normal Accommodation	59	46
¹ up to and including 20 August only.
² Self-inflicted deaths include all deaths where it appears that a prisoner has acted specifically to take their own life. Annual numbers may change slightly from time to time as inquest verdicts and other information become available (previously some 20 per cent. of these deaths have not received a suicide or open verdict at inquest).

Secondary information