Suicide prevention procedures at HM Prison La Moye

1240/5(3193)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS BY DEPUTY D.W. MEZBOURIAN OF ST. LAWRENCE

ANSWER TO BE TABLE ON TUESDAY, 13th FEBRUARY 2007

Question

1. F o l lo wing a suspected suicide at the prison, the Minister answered questions on this matter on 12th September 2006. Will the Minister advise members of any new suicide prevention procedures or measures that have been put in placesince her comments?
2. D u ring thesamemeeting, the Minister informed membersthat, although certainrecommendationsofHer Majesty's Inspector relating tomeasures for suicide and selfharmreduction had been implemented, it was impossibletoimplementmeaningful strategies unless the necessary resources were available. Will the Minister inform members whether decisions on the precise allocation and spending of prison resources are madeby her and, if not, state how suchdecisionsaremade?
3. W o uld the Minister advisememberswhether,following the suspected suicide in September 2006, and her assertion of "the need to constantly reassess the way that we care for all ofourprisoners", additional resources were allocated for suicide and self harm reduction measures?"

Answer

1. T h e question on the12thSeptember2006 related totherecommendationsmadein the last two HMI inspection reports. It isrelevanttoremindmembers that the 2005HMI inspection found that a self-harm and suicide strategydocument had been written andpublished; a prison's suicide preventionco-ordinator had been nominated; a suicide prevention committeehad been set up;and that good statistical information was provided andwasbeingusedbythecommitteetoidentify trends and potential areas of concern. The six recommendationsmade in the 2005reportrelated mainly towhoshould attend suicide prevention committee meetings and case reviews. Since I made my last comments, the prison has introduced additional riskassessment procedures for all new receptions into the prison. Regular suicide awareness groupmeetings continue to be held to review all procedures relating to the careof prisoners. Funding has been found from the prison budget to convert some cells across the prison to safer cells'. The main capital expenditure inrelationto this is the purchaseand fixing of safer windows'. These need tobe manufacturedto a particular design (only available off Island) and although the orderwas placed in2006 unfortunately the manufacturerexperiencedproblems with a sub-contractor. The windowsareexpected to be fitted by the endofFebruary. This will mean that we have sufficient safer cells' for each part of the prison (male, female, youngoffender and vulnerable prisoners). Thesecells are designed to virtually eliminate ligature points.
2. A s Minister forHomeAffairs,itismy responsibility to agree the distribution oftheHome Affairs budget among the various departments baseduponbusiness plan objectives. Aswithany major service area, I will alsoagree the overall budgetandkeyareasof expenditure for the Prison whichincludes the Prison Performance Improvement Plan. However, the detailed expenditure of that budget in-year is the responsibility of the Prison Governor. Heagreesspendingplans with the Chief Officer Home Affairs whohasoverall responsibility for the managementoftheHome Affairs budgetastheAccountingOfficer.
3. F u rther to some funding beingfound from within thePrisonbudgetto convert somecells to safer cells' as described in answerto(a), additional funding has been identified for the Prison to enable ittomake significant progressduring 2007 in many areas linked with the PerformanceImprovementPlan. Manyof the proposalsforimprovement across thePrisonare linked with the careof prisoners which will help to reduce the riskof suicide orself-harm. It is also clear that, if additional resources are foundto offer better hope of rehabilitation through training or offending behaviourcourses, this will have a positive effect in

reducing the risk of suicide or self-harm by reducing the sense of hopelessness felt by many prisoners.