Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody
We are an advisory non-departmental public body co-sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care with the central aim of preventing deaths in custody.
The Ministerial Board on Deaths in Custody brings Ministers, senior officials, experts and practitioners together to enable better learning and sharing of lessons across the custodial sectors. The Board meets twice a year with workstreams being taken forward between meetings.
Join the IAPDC Practitioner and Stakeholder group to receive regular updates from across the sectors and invitations to stakeholders events.
Loss of liberty should never result in loss of life. There is no such thing as an acceptable death toll in places of detention.
Juliet Lyon, former Chair of the IAPDC, published her end of term report which highlights the IAPDC’s key achievements between September 2019 and January 2023.
In the 12 months to December 2023, there were 311 deaths in prison custody. This is calculated at a rate of 3.6 per 1,000 prisoners. This is an increase of 3% from 301 deaths in the previous 12 months.
Of the 311 deaths, 93 were self-inflicted, an increase of 22% from 76 self-inflicted deaths in the previous 12 months. During the same period, 179 deaths were due to natural causes, a decrease of 10%.
There were 14 deaths of offenders with residence in Approved Premises in 2022/23, an increase of 1 since 2021/22. Deaths in Approved Premises accounted for 1% of all deaths of offenders in the community in 2022/23.
Deaths of offenders in the community, England and Wales 2022/23
Providers have notified the CQC that 270 people died while detained under the Mental Health Act between April 2021 and March 2022. This is a fall on the previous year (363 deaths).
Monitoring the Mental Health Act in 2021/22
In 2022/23, 23 people died in or following police custody, an increase of 12 compared to 2021/22. There were 52 apparent suicides, a decrease of five compared to 2021/22.
Deaths during or following police contact: Statistics for England and Wales2020/21
In 2022, there was one death in the detention estate while being held solely under immigration powers.
