Dear Mr Tyes

Re: Request under the 2000 Freedom of Information Act

Thank you for your email of the 6^th March 2009, in which you asked for information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) regarding:

`the number of prisoners who have died in prison for each of the most recent three years for which records are kept. Please break down these figures by age, gender, religion and nationality.

Please also identify cause of death.

Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)

I apologise for the delay in sending you a response and hope this has not caused you too much inconvenience.

I can confirm that we have all of the information requested except for religion.  We do have some information on this as it has recently been added to our database but we do not yet have religion recorded for all deaths for the period requested and could only obtain a full set of data at disproportionate cost.

The breakdown as requested produces small numbers and if interpreted literally would amount to an extract of our database. Out of respect for the victims, families and friends of the deceased and in compliance with the National Statistics Code of Practice we do not provide such detailed information on every death in prison custody.  In addition, with apparent homicides, we are unable to provide such details as to do so may compromise ongoing police investigations/trials.  We can however provide aggregate numbers and trust that the following will suffice.

Table 1: Deaths in Prison Custody (England and Wales) by Apparent Cause

Table 2: Deaths in Prison Custody (England and Wales) by Apparent Cause and age/sex category

Note: Juvenile = under 18s, Young Offender=18-20 year olds, Adult=21 years and over

When we produce tables like this blanks = no incidents reported. This will usually mean zero but there have been occasions in the past when prisons have delayed reporting deaths perhaps because a prisoner died some time later in hospital.

We prefer to leave the cells as blank instead of zero for the following reasons:

“Other non-natural deaths include deaths from external causes including accidental overdose/poisoning and deaths where taking a drug contributed to a death but not in fatal amounts. This category also includes a small number of otherwise difficult to classify deaths.”

The table below covers the main National Offender Management Service (NOMS) classification of deaths that we use in published figures. There are alternative classifications e.g. based on inquest verdicts but these are used less often.

NOMS CLASSIFICATION OF DEATHS

All deaths where the prisoner has taken his or her own life irrespective of intent

All deaths of prisoners for natural reasons where there is no external factor involved.

All deaths where the prisoners has been unlawfully killed by another person

Any other deaths which are not included above, these include accidents arising from

external causes including drug mule accidents, accidental overdose/poisoning and

deaths, where taking a drug contributed to a death but not in fatal amounts. This

category may also include a small number of otherwise difficult to classify deaths.

Table 3: Deaths in Prison Custody (England and Wales) by religion group

Notes:

We could break down the above table by apparent cause of death but to do so would produce low numbers and reveal information about homicides etc.

Table 4: Deaths in Prison Custody (England and Wales) by nationality type

Notes:

As with religion we could break down the above table by apparent cause of death but to do so would produce low numbers and reveal information about homicides etc.

Policy on Violence Reduction:

Reducing violence, whatever the level of severity, in prisons is a priority for Ministers, NOMS and the Prison Officers Association and they are collectively committed to working towards a zero tolerance approach to prison violence. Since 2004, a national strategy has directed every public sector prison to have in place a local violence reduction strategy and since mid 2007 this has been applied to both the public and contracted out estate. A whole prison approach is encouraged, engaging all staff, all disciplines and prisoners in challenging unacceptable behaviour, problem-solving and personal safety.

Suicide prevention (does not include self harm):

Any death in custody is a tragic event. The Government is committed to learning from such events and reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prison custody. The National Offender Management Service has a broad, integrated and evidence-based prisoner suicide prevention and self harm management strategy that seeks to reduce the distress of all those in prison. This encompasses a wide spectrum of Prison and Department of Health work around such issues as mental health, substance misuse and resettlement. Any prisoner identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm is cared for using the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) procedures.

If you are unhappy with the result of your request for information, you may request an internal review within two calendar months of the date of this letter by writing to : Data Access and Compliance Unit, Information Directorate, Ministry of Justice, 6^th Floor, Zone 6.25, 102 Petty France, London SW1H 9AJ.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Ms N Amadi

Data Access & Compliance Unit

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