Written question asked by Sadiq Khan (Labour) on Friday, 6 May 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 10 May 2011. It was answered by Crispin Blunt (Conservative) on Wednesday, 11 May 2011 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisoners: Self-harm

Question: (2) how many instances of self-harming were reported on the prison estate in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 2009-10;

Answer: Self-harm in prison custody is defined as"““any act where a prisoner deliberately harms themselves irrespective of the method, intent or severity of any injury””."Annual numbers of self-harm incidents from 2004 to 2009 are publicly available on the Ministry of Justice website, as part of our Safety in Custody statistics. They can be accessed via the following link:"http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/safety-custody-self-harm-statistics-0710.xls"Table 12 lists incidents by prison, by year. The relevant information for 2010 is currently in process for publication later this year.The Prison Service has recorded information on self-harm since the early 1990s but the focus was limited to the most serious incidents of self-harm. Since 2003, new procedures introduced the recording of all self-harm incidents, regardless of severity. This improvement resulted in a 60% increase in recording. Consequently, self-harm figures prior to 2004 are not comparable with those produced since.

Secondary information