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Home Office

Answer

Jackie Ballard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of self-harm were recorded by people held in (a) court cells and (b) on prison escort, in each of the last five years. [106113] Mr. Boateng: Information systems used by the Prison Service do not allow a differentiation between incidents of self-harm committed by people in court cells and on prison escort. The information available on self-harm incidents of people while on prison escort undertaken by private sector companies acting under contract to the Prison Service is the total number reported to the incident management support unit (IMSU) in Prison Service headquarters. These figures are given in the table. Care should be taken when interpreting the data because, although the majority of incidents of self-harm occur while in court, some incidents do take place in cellular vehicles. In addition, it should be noted that responsibility for the escorting of prisoners to and from court was progressively contracted out in England and Wales between April 1993 and August 1997. Consequently, the figures for 1995-96 and 1996-97 are low because incidents involving prisoners under escort by prison staff would have been recorded against the establishment involved, while those relating to prisoners in police custody would have been collected locally. Reported incidents of self-harm by people while on prison escort 1995-96 to 1999-2000 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year Total 1995-96 16 1996-97 57 1997-98 145 1998-99 156 1999-2000{1} 184 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} As at 19 January 1999 Notes: 1. These data are derived from information provided by escort contract monitors to the Incident Management Support Unit (IMSU) in Prison Service Headquarters. 2. Incidents do not necessarily equate to numbers of prisoners as an individual prisoner may self-harm on more than one occasion. 3. Statistics on self-harm are collated on a financial year basis.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

343 c234-5W; 106113

Session

1999-00

Subjects

Courts Prisoners Prisoner escorts Suicide Self-harm

Contains statistics

Yes