In March 2017, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a guideline on mental health of adults in contact with the criminal justice system (NG66). Meditation for promoting mental health and wellbeing was considered during the development of the guideline. However, the guideline committee considered the evidence insufficient to support any specific recommendations on meditation.

NICE also published a guideline on physical health of people in prison (NG57) in November 2016, which made recommendations on the promotion of prisoners’ health and wellbeing. Meditation was not considered during the development of this guideline.

Our work on mindfulness is just part of our efforts to reduce recidivism and improve the prison estate. Over the past 3 years, we have invested £100m to provide additional Prison Officers to improve frontline safety, security and rehabilitation.

Our work on mindfulness is just part of our efforts to reduce recidivism and improve the prison estate. Over the past 3 years, we have invested £100m to provide additional Prison Officers to improve frontline safety, security and rehabilitation.

Mindfulness workshops forms part of a range of mental and physical health wellbeing workshops on offer to prison staff, with over 200 wellbeing days provided to prison establishments over the last two years. The workshops are also available on request through the HMPPS bespoke wellbeing initiative, Wellness Together programme which provides a series of workshops to selected prison establishments over a 12-week period.

Some prisons also provide local independently organised staff mindfulness training sessions for instance, at lunch times.

More widely, confidential counselling, wellbeing/lifestyle advice, wellbeing workshops, training and coaching to prison staff are also available to prison staff.

People in prisons should receive the same standard and access to National Health Service healthcare treatments and care as people in the community.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published quality standards on antenatal care (QS22) and antenatal and postnatal mental health (QS115). NICE quality standards are concise sets of statements designed to drive quality improvements within a particular area of care and cover the NHS, public health and social care. The Department does not have any arrangements for monitoring the uptake of NICE quality standards centrally as they are not mandatory, however health and care commissioners are expected to take them fully into account.

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons in England. It is working closely with Public Health England and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service on a review of how current practice meets the gender specific standards for women in prison to improve health and wellbeing, published in March 2019, which include standards around the care of pregnant and post pregnant women.

Across the prison estate we have invested an additional £70m in a raft of measures designed to improve safety, security and decency – including body-scanners, enhanced searches and new investigative teams – while the 4,700 additional staff we have recruited since October 2016 are making a real difference.

Data on alcohol and drug misuse treatment in prisons and other secure settings is available from Public Health England’s national drug treatment monitoring system (NDTMS). The 2016-17 NDTMS report shows that there were 59,258 adults in contact with drug and alcohol treatment services within secure settings. Most of these (55,721) were in prisons, but there were also 3,015 in young offender institutions and 522 in immigration and removal centres. This report can be viewed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/substance-misuse-treatment-in-secure-settings-statistics-2016-to-2017

Most recently I visited HMP & YOI Parc, and I intend to visit HMP & YOI Berwyn in the New Year.

I refer the Hon. Member to the Answer given to Question 186964, which now includes the tables requested.

The tables show the numbers of self-harm incidents, assault incidents on prisoners, and assault incidents on staff, per 100 prisoners, for each prison from 2013 to 2017 inclusive.

The Government takes very seriously its responsibility to keep prisoners safe, and we are committed to reducing the incidence of self-harm across the estate. This is why we have established a prison safety programme through which we are taking forward a comprehensive set of actions to improve safety in custody. We have invested in over 3,000 additional staff in order to deliver consistent, purposeful regimes. We have also introduced the new key worker role, under which staff can give prisoners more effective challenge and support.

Our prison staff work incredibly hard and we are under no illusions about the challenges they face. We are taking urgent action to make prisons safer, and assaults on our staff will never be tolerated. That is why we are working with the Police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure successful prosecutions of those who assault them. It is also why the Government supported the recently passed Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act, which increases sentences for those who attack emergency workers, including prison officers.

The causes of self-harm and violence in prisons are complex. They include “imported factors”, such as the characteristics of the population coming into prison, and “custodial factors”, such as the nature of the prison environment and regime.

The Government takes very seriously its responsibility to keep staff and prisoners safe, and we are committed to reducing the incidence of self-harm, suicide and violence across the estate. This is why we have established a prison safety programme through which we are taking forward a comprehensive set of actions to improve safety in custody.

Our prison staff work incredibly hard and we are under no illusions about the challenges they face. Assaults on our staff will never be tolerated. That is why we are working with the Police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure successful prosecutions of those who assault them. It is also why the Government supported the recently passed Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act, which increases sentences for those who attack emergency workers, including prison officers. We are taking further measures to protect our staff, including investing in 5,600 body-worn cameras and in rigid-bar handcuffs. Early next year we will begin to equip every prison officer in the adult male prison estate with PAVA incapacitant spray. PAVA can help to prevent serious harm to staff and prisoners alike, as well as being a tool to persuade prisoners in the act of violence to stop.

But the key to this must be consistent management of prisoner behaviour with clear expectations.

We have invested in over 3,000 additional staff in order to deliver consistent, purposeful regimes. We have also introduced the new key worker role, under which staff can give prisoners more effective challenge and support. We are taking action in a number of ways to identify and support prisoners at risk, including:

• rolling out revised and improved training for staff in assessing and managing the risk of suicide and self-harm amongst prisoners (this has already reached more than 17,000 staff);
• improving support for prisoners in their early days in custody;
• revising the ACCT case management process for those identified as being at risk; and

renewing our partnership with the Samaritans by confirming a further three years' grant funding for their valuable Listeners Scheme.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) publishes monthly individual prison population and capacity information through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prison-population-statistics

The following table identifies each prison in England and Wales which has operated with a population above its Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA) on the last working Friday in any month in each of the last seven years.

CNA, or uncrowded capacity, is the Prison Service’s own measure of accommodation. It represents the good, decent standard of accommodation that the Service aspires to provide all prisoners. CNA differs to the Operational Capacity of a prison which is the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold taking into account control, security and the proper operation of the planned regime. Although CNA is ideal in practice it has in many cases not been possible for the last two decades due to the significant population growth.

Where the Operational Capacity of a prison is higher than the CNA it will be classed as having the potential to be crowded, which can mean prisoners share cells. In the financial year 2017/18, 24.2% of the prison population was being held in crowded conditions, down from 24.5% in the previous year.

We have an ambitious plan to reduce prison crowding by introducing new places that are safe, decent, and uncrowded. In February 2017 HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Berwyn was opened which, when full, will provide 2,100 uncrowded prison places. The government has also committed to building up to 10,000 decent prison places which will provide the physical conditions for Governors to achieve better educational, training and rehabilitative outcomes.

Information on Welsh-speaking staff in prisons is not, and has never been, collected and so the data requested is not available.

Our Welsh Language Scheme is currently under review, and we will continue to work with the Welsh Language Commissioner to ensure that the linguistic needs of Welsh speaking prisoners are met.

Data on assault incidents per 1,000 prisoners covering the 12 months to December 2007 to the 12 months to December 2016 can be found in the Ministry of Justice’s published ‘Safety in Custody statistics’:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-december-2016--2

The Department has no current plans to assess the potential use of mindfulness in prisons. Assessing the potential use of mindfulness therapies in prisons in reducing violence, improving prisoners’ mental health or reducing reoffending are matters for other organisations including the Ministry of Justice, the National Offender Management Service and NHS England to consider.

Up until the end of 2011-12, information was collected on the average hours per weekday that prisoners were unlocked. By subtracting the average hours unlocked from the 24 hours in a day, it is possible to estimate hours spent locked in cell. Figures for each prison establishment for the three years from 2009-10 to 2011-12 have been placed in the Library of the House.

It should be noted that time in cell includes hours when prisoners are asleep. Time unlocked includes time

where a prisoner is either out of their cell or where the cell door is unlocked allowing them to move freely in and out of the cell.

Time unlocked was discontinued as a performance indicator for prisons at the end of 2011-12 because it was not used in the day-to-day management of prisons and NOMS had concerns over the burden on the front-line of collecting the data. Indicators introduced into prison SLAs in respect of rehabilitation, resettlement and work in prisons provide a better demonstration of efforts to prepare prisoners for release and reduce reoffending.

Figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Figures for time in cell for the year 2012-13 and 2013-14 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully while they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.

The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1.5 million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners. In addition, there are substantial number of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.

Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

The establishment-level breakdown of weekly hours worked is not available centrally for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Information on the proportion of prisoners classed as unemployed is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Our reforms to the incentives and earned privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.

Up until the end of 2011-12, information was collected on the average hours per weekday that prisoners were unlocked. By subtracting the average hours unlocked from the 24 hours in a day, it is possible to estimate hours spent locked in cell. Figures for each prison establishment for the three years from 2009-10 to 2011-12 have been placed in the Library of the House.

It should be noted that time in cell includes hours when prisoners are asleep. Time unlocked includes time

where a prisoner is either out of their cell or where the cell door is unlocked allowing them to move freely in and out of the cell.

Time unlocked was discontinued as a performance indicator for prisons at the end of 2011-12 because it was not used in the day-to-day management of prisons and NOMS had concerns over the burden on the front-line of collecting the data. Indicators introduced into prison SLAs in respect of rehabilitation, resettlement and work in prisons provide a better demonstration of efforts to prepare prisoners for release and reduce reoffending.

Figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Figures for time in cell for the year 2012-13 and 2013-14 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully while they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.

The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1.5 million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners. In addition, there are substantial number of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.

Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

The establishment-level breakdown of weekly hours worked is not available centrally for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Information on the proportion of prisoners classed as unemployed is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Our reforms to the incentives and earned privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.

Up until the end of 2011-12, information was collected on the average hours per weekday that prisoners were unlocked. By subtracting the average hours unlocked from the 24 hours in a day, it is possible to estimate hours spent locked in cell. Figures for each prison establishment for the three years from 2009-10 to 2011-12 have been placed in the Library of the House.

It should be noted that time in cell includes hours when prisoners are asleep. Time unlocked includes time

where a prisoner is either out of their cell or where the cell door is unlocked allowing them to move freely in and out of the cell.

Time unlocked was discontinued as a performance indicator for prisons at the end of 2011-12 because it was not used in the day-to-day management of prisons and NOMS had concerns over the burden on the front-line of collecting the data. Indicators introduced into prison SLAs in respect of rehabilitation, resettlement and work in prisons provide a better demonstration of efforts to prepare prisoners for release and reduce reoffending.

Figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Figures for time in cell for the year 2012-13 and 2013-14 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully while they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.

The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1.5 million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners. In addition, there are substantial number of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.

Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

The establishment-level breakdown of weekly hours worked is not available centrally for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Information on the proportion of prisoners classed as unemployed is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Our reforms to the incentives and earned privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.

Up until the end of 2011-12, information was collected on the average hours per weekday that prisoners were unlocked. By subtracting the average hours unlocked from the 24 hours in a day, it is possible to estimate hours spent locked in cell. Figures for each prison establishment for the three years from 2009-10 to 2011-12 have been placed in the Library of the House.

It should be noted that time in cell includes hours when prisoners are asleep. Time unlocked includes time

where a prisoner is either out of their cell or where the cell door is unlocked allowing them to move freely in and out of the cell.

Time unlocked was discontinued as a performance indicator for prisons at the end of 2011-12 because it was not used in the day-to-day management of prisons and NOMS had concerns over the burden on the front-line of collecting the data. Indicators introduced into prison SLAs in respect of rehabilitation, resettlement and work in prisons provide a better demonstration of efforts to prepare prisoners for release and reduce reoffending.

Figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Figures for time in cell for the year 2012-13 and 2013-14 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully while they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.

The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1.5 million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners. In addition, there are substantial number of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.

Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

The establishment-level breakdown of weekly hours worked is not available centrally for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Information on the proportion of prisoners classed as unemployed is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Our reforms to the incentives and earned privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.

Up until the end of 2011-12, information was collected on the average hours per weekday that prisoners were unlocked. By subtracting the average hours unlocked from the 24 hours in a day, it is possible to estimate hours spent locked in cell. Figures for each prison establishment for the three years from 2009-10 to 2011-12 have been placed in the Library of the House.

It should be noted that time in cell includes hours when prisoners are asleep. Time unlocked includes time

where a prisoner is either out of their cell or where the cell door is unlocked allowing them to move freely in and out of the cell.

Time unlocked was discontinued as a performance indicator for prisons at the end of 2011-12 because it was not used in the day-to-day management of prisons and NOMS had concerns over the burden on the front-line of collecting the data. Indicators introduced into prison SLAs in respect of rehabilitation, resettlement and work in prisons provide a better demonstration of efforts to prepare prisoners for release and reduce reoffending.

Figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Figures for time in cell for the year 2012-13 and 2013-14 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully while they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.

The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1.5 million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners. In addition, there are substantial number of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.

Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

The establishment-level breakdown of weekly hours worked is not available centrally for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Information on the proportion of prisoners classed as unemployed is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Our reforms to the incentives and earned privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.