Written question asked by Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 25 April 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 30 April 2012. It was answered by Crispin Blunt (Conservative) on Tuesday, 1 May 2012 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisoners: Mental Health Services

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to ensure adequate resources for prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection to get fair access to the therapy programmes they need to prove they are no longer a danger to society.

Answer: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has introduced a number of measures to improve the availability of interventions to address the risk factors which offender managers have identified in sentence plans for prisoners serving indeterminate sentences of imprisonment for public protection (IPP). In addition, NOMS is to introduce changes to ensure that programmes can be delivered more flexibly, supporting greater access, and inclusion of offenders with more complex needs, such as learning difficulties.It is not only by completing accredited programmes that IPP prisoners are capable of demonstrating that they have reduced their risk of harm to the extent that the Parole Board, on tariff expiry, may decide that their risk may be effectively managed in the community. There are a number of other interventions which will have an impact on reduction in risk, such as training, education, work, specialist support and resettlement activity.In all cases, IPP prisoners are responsible for engaging positively with their sentence plans and the interventions specified in those plans, in order to demonstrate to the Parole Board, once they have completed their tariff, that it is no longer necessary, on the grounds of public protection, for them to be detained in custody.

Secondary information