Greater focus and ambition needed to prevent suicide in detention
The Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC) welcomes the publication of the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) cross-government and cross-sector approach to preventing suicide.
As set out in its new five-year suicide prevention strategy, suicide is everyone’s business. This is especially true for places of detention where the Government has the duty – and opportunity – to take active steps to protect the lives of people in its care.
We were grateful to feed into the development of the new strategy by drawing on the expertise of the Practitioner and Stakeholder Group (PSG). The strategy is a step in the right direction and we welcome chapters looking specifically at preventing suicide among people in contact with the criminal justice system and mental health services.
However, there is a concerning lack of focus on preventing suicide among individuals detained under the Mental Health Act, a group who are at particularly high risk. Furthermore, the strategy does not feature the growing, and increasingly vulnerable, immigration detention population. This is especially worrying in the context of the Government’s plans to significantly expand immigration detention powers under the new Illegal Migration Act.
Meanwhile, initiatives set out to prevent suicide in prisons do not go beyond existing commitments, despite latest statistics showing an alarming increase in these deaths. Also concerning is the lack of focus given to preventing the consistently high number of suicides among individuals following their release from police custody.
Families rightly expect their loved ones to be safe when in the care and custody of the state. Detention poses both serious risks and opportunities for intervention. Greater ambition and focus are therefore needed to prevent the tragedy of these self-inflicted deaths. This includes the prioritisation of alternatives to detention and custodial sentences.
Earlier this year, the IAPDC submitted a report to DHSC to help inform the new suicide prevention strategy. The report, which we are publishing today, was the culmination of significant engagement with members of the PSG, current prisoners, leading charities and scrutiny bodies, and Samaritans volunteers in prisons.
We welcome the commitment made in the strategy to continue to consider advice from the IAPDC. We want to work collaboratively with the Government to support the implementation and monitoring of the strategy in order to achieve a continued and sustained reduction in the number and rate of suicides across the detention landscape. Our report should act as a foundation to ensure detainees’ rights to life are protected through policy and practice. As a prisoner at HMP High Down told us, “it’s time things change”.