Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 28
28
Accepted
Prisons used as places of safety, despite Government aims to end the practice
Recommendation
We were shocked and appalled to hear that prisons are used as a place of safety. We acknowledge and welcome that the Government aims to end this practice in the Mental Health Bill. We request details of how this will work in practice and when this will be implemented. (Conclusion, Paragraph 110)
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the request, detailing that the Mental Health Bill will introduce a statutory 28-day time limit for hospital transfers from prisons and stop courts from temporarily detaining individuals with severe mental illness in prison as a ‘place of safety’.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Mental Health Bill includes a number of vital reforms to support people with severe mental illness in the criminal justice system. These include: • The introduction of a new statutory 28-day time limit for transfers from prison and other places of detention to hospital to reduce unnecessary delays experienced by patients. • Stopping courts temporarily detaining people with severe mental illness in prison as a ‘place of safety’ whilst awaiting a hospital bed for treatment or assessment under the Mental Health Act; and • Ending the use of remand for own protection under the Bail Act where the court’s sole concern is the defendant’s mental health.