Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Deferred
Paragraph: 99
We were concerned to hear reports of children being remanded to custody pending psychiatric reports.
Recommendation
We were concerned to hear reports of children being remanded to custody pending psychiatric reports. Evidence received suggested that this is unnecessary and potentially damaging for a child. We ask the Ministry of Justice to set out how many children have been sent to custody pending a psychiatric report. We recommend that the Ministry set out what steps it is taking to prevent this from happening.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government accepts in principle that prison should not be used for mental health assessments and recognizes the need for a timely pathway to transfer people to healthcare settings. However, it states that significant further work is needed before legislative change can be introduced and does not provide the requested data on children sent to custody.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
99
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
59. The recently published MHA White Paper accepts in principle the Independent Review’s recommendation. The Government agrees with the Review that prison should not be used as a place of safety on the grounds of mental health but significant further work is needed before legislative change can be introduced. As part of this, the Government recognises the need for a clear, timely pathway in which sentencers have confidence to transfer people directly from court to a healthcare setting for psychiatric assessment.
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