Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Rejected
Paragraph: 117
Set out complementary work being done alongside ACCT to prevent over-reliance on the process.
Recommendation
Although many witnesses have welcomed the revised ACCT process, we note the concern expressed by some that there may be an over-reliance on ACCT, and a perception that it is seen as an outcome in itself. Whilst the ACCT should be seen as a means to achieving a successful outcome for women in prison, the Ministry of Justice and HMPPS should set out what work is being done alongside ACCT, to ensure there is not an over-reliance on this process.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government rejected the recommendation, explaining that a cross-agency group found no robust data sources for the issue and it is not practical to collect new data while focusing on reforms to prevent custody being used as a place of safety.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
117
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government · verbatim extract
Rejected
We accept this recommendation. Ensuring the safety of our prisons is a priority for the Department. We have established a multi-disciplinary Women’s Self-Harm Taskforce to address the high levels of self-harm. The aim of the taskforce is to focus on work, research and interventions that improve prisoner outcomes. Key actions to date include: a review of prolific self-harm in the women’s estate; delivery of specialist training for new officers; recruitment of psychologists to support the delivery of Support through Enhanced Management (StEM) for women with complex needs; piloting a Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) intervention; rolling out a woman-specific Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) model; and commissioning a review of health and social care with NHS England. We have allocated a total of £37m on safety measures over the next three years. This includes 290 ligature-resistant cells; trialling alternatives to wet-shave razors; providing emotional resilience training to new arrivals; training prisoners to provide peer-to-peer wellbeing support; creating multidisciplinary specialist support teams who will work with individuals to address their risk of harm to self and others; and we are establishing an innovations taskforce bringing together experts from across the sector to develop new ideas to address the drivers of self-harm and violence in prisons. Additionally, we have committed to expanding and supporting our workforce to enable a greater focus on offender management and key work; ensuring a more resilient estate by both building additional prison places and undertaking refurbishments with the current estate; improving access to healthcare and substance misuse treatment; and creating a regime that supports safety with an increased focus on creating a secure estate. Since publication of the White Paper, we have also funded a number of activities to support improvements in safety, including additional support for women with complex needs, specialist support for women who have experienced abuse and extra support during early days in custody.
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