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16 May 2008 : Column 1834W—continued

Table 2: Total and average working days lost and proportion attributed to mental and behavioural disorders in public sector Prison Service, 2003 to 2007
	Mental and behavioural WDL	Percentage of days lost to sickness due to mental and behavioural disorder
2003	157,960	24.86
2004	155,103	25.57
2005	146,335	24.24
2006	129,421	22.91
2007	135,252	22.58

16 May 2008 : Column 1835W

Table 3: Total and average working days lost and proportion attributed to mental and behavioural disorders in private sector Prison Service contracted estates
	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003
(a) Working days lost to sickness
Altcourse	7,354	5,798	n/a	n/a	n/a
Ashfield	2,937	4,229	3,704	2,810	n/a
Bronzefield	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	(1)—
Doncaster	350	478	519	n/a	n/a
Dovegate	5,494	4,494	5,775	n/a	n/a
Forest Bank	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Lowdham Grange	1,695	1,467	1,883	1,736	1,737
Parc	4271	3,867	4,271	n/a	n/a
Peterborough	n/s	n/s	n/s	(1)—	(1)—
Rye Hill	4,468	4,140	n/a	n/a	n/a
Wolds	2,833	1,996	1,064	1,145	n/a
Total	29,402	26,469	17,216	5,691	1,737
(b) Average number of working days per staff member lost to sickness
Altcourse	14.88	13.12	n/a	n/a	n/a
Ashfield	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Bronzefield	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	(1)—
Doncaster	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Dovegate	11.00	10.00	12.00	n/a	n/a
Forest Bank	—	—	—	—	—
Lowdham Grange	5.00	5.00	6.00	6.00	6.00
Parc	13.15	13.35	10.55	n/a	n/a
Peterborough	n/s	n/s	n/s	(1)—	(1)—
Rye Hill	16.62	17.69	n/a	n/a	n/a
Wolds	13.50	9.68	6.60	7.20	n/a
Total	12.40	11.50	8.80	6.60	6.00
(c) Percentage of sick days lost to stress related illness.
Total	12.72	18.56	11.35	19.00	19.00
n/s = Not supplied by the contractor within the time scale given. Information may become available at later date. n/a = Data are not available due to archiving and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. (1) Not open Note: Information has been provided for two of the eleven contracted prisons Lowdham Grange and Parc. Due to the varying reporting systems across the contracted prison estate, data relating to stress related illnesses is not recorded at all establishments.

16 May 2008 : Column 1836W

Table 4: Total and average working days lost and proportion attributed to mental and behavioural disorders in former Department for Constitutional Affairs
	Total days lost	Proportion lost to mental disorders (percentage)
Magistrates Court Committee	106,438	19
HM Courts Service	60,911	17
Former Department for Constitutional Affairs	9,689	14
Tribunal Service	7,681	13
Office of the Public Guardian	1,066	38
Scotland Office	121	0
Wales Office	95	6
National Offender Management Service	11,135	20
Office of Criminal Justice Reform	1,347	29
Note: The Cabinet Office published a report on sickness absence in the civil service on 7 February 2008. The report included an analysis of the days lost due to sickness absence for each Department by reasons for absence. The following table sets out the figures for 2006-07 for the constituent parts of this Department, which were in place prior to the creation of the Ministry of Justice in May 2007. Information on the reasons for sickness absence prior to 2006-07 for the former Department for Constitutional Affairs is not readily available.

Prison Service: Working Conditions

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps the Government are taking to improve conditions of work for prison staff. [205536]

Mr. Hanson: Workforce modernisation formed a recommendation in Lord Carter’s report ‘Securing the Future.’ The Workforce Modernisation Programme was formed to focus on developing new pay and grading for all staff working in National Offender Management Service and new workforce structures for all staff working in prison. New pay and grading structures will be underpinned by the new Job Evaluation System to ensure that pay and reward is fair across our different staffing groups. However, development of the different projects shaping aspects of the programme are in their early stages and no decisions have been made on whether changes to terms and conditions will be required.

Prisoners: Suicide

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many women committed suicide while in prison and (a) on and (b) not on suicide watch in each of the last 10 years; [205525]

(2) how many men aged 18 to 25 years committed suicide while in prison and (a) on and (b) not on suicide watch in each of the last 10 years; [205526]

(3) how many men committed suicide while in prison and (a) on and (b) not on suicide watch in each of the last 10 years; [205527]

(4) how many people committed suicide in prison while (a) on and (b) not on suicide watch in each of the last 10 years; [205560]

(5) how many people committed suicide in custody in each of the last 10 years; [205561]

(6) how many women aged 18 to 25 years committed suicide while in prison and (a) on and (b) not on suicide watch in each of the last 10 years. [205564]

Mr. Hanson: The term ‘suicide watch’ is not employed in National Offender Management Service (NOMS).

16 May 2008 : Column 1837W

However, any prisoner identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm will be cared for using the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) procedures. ACCT is the prisoner-centred flexible care-planning system introduced across the prisons estate in partnership with the Department of health during 2005-07 to replace the old F2052SH system. All at-risk prisoners are subject to a minimum required frequency of staff supervision (conversations and observations) set by an individual case review. Such frequency can vary widely between different at-risk prisoners depending on the level of risk and the needs of the distressed individual.

The following tables provide a response to the questions based on the use of ACCT or F2052SH at-risk care plans.

16 May 2008 : Column 1838W

Table 1: Annual numbers of self-inflicted deaths( 1) in prison between 1998 and 2007 with and without at-risk care plans
	Not on care plans	On care plans	Total self-inflicted deaths( 1)
1998	57	26	83
1999	75	16	91
2000	57	24	81
2001	51	22	73
2002	72	23	95
2003	67	27	94
2004	76	19	95
2005	53	25	78
2006	51	16	67
2007	69	23	92

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