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Former IAPDC Chair, Juliet Lyon, gives evidence to the Justice Committee

Published:
Category:
Prisons
Juliet Lyon, giving evidence at the Justice Select Committee.

Last month, Juliet Lyon, former IAPDC Chair, gave oral evidence to the Justice Committee on areas covered in her end of term report relating to the work of the Committee.

The report, published in February, highlights the Panel’s key achievements during the second half of Juliet’s tenure as IAPDC Chair from 2019 to 2023.

During the evidence session, Juliet reflected on the key challenges facing the prison service and the urgent steps needed to reduce, and ultimately prevent, deaths in prison custody. Juliet covered the following topics:

  • the ongoing impact of Covid-19;
  • prison capacity and workforce;
  • vulnerable cohorts including IPP and remand prisoners;
  • self-inflicted deaths, drug deaths, and natural deaths; and
  • coroners’ reports and embedding learning.

Concluding her oral evidence, Juliet described the primary challenge to preventing deaths in prison custody:

“I fear that until and unless the Prison Service is able to be properly staffed and resourced and is seen as a really important public service, with all that that involves, it is really difficult for them to keep people safe.”

“I fear that until and unless the Prison Service is able to be properly staffed and resourced and is seen as a really important public service, with all that that involves, it is really difficult for them to keep people safe.“

You can watch the oral evidence session and read the transcript.

Juliet was also invited by the Committee to provide written evidence on a number of topics which were not covered during the session. These included the “mixed” progress made to prevent self-inflicted deaths, suggested Panel priorities for the future, and how ministers can better support the IAPDC.