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The government must do more to reduce the risk of suicide in prisons during the critical first few nights of prison, according to a report published today by the Prison Reform Trust and supported by the Wates Foundation.

With the risk of suicide strongest in the first few days of imprisonment, the report, entitled ‘There When You Need Them Most’, provides evidence that specialist first night services – currently available at a few prisons - can play a key role in reducing the stress experienced by prisoners, 58% of whom report feeling anxiety or distress when they arrive at a new prison.

Based on detailed interviews with 91 prisoners in six prisons, the report finds that, when they enter a new prison, both first-time and experienced prisoners are more worried about life in the outside world, mentioned by over three quarters (77%) of prisoners, than life inside the prison, mentioned by just over half (53%). The most common worries expressed are about families, mentioned by almost two-thirds (62%) of interviewed prisoners. In particular, prisoners are anxious to let their families know their whereabouts following a prison move or on imprisonment itself.  

The report finds that services provided in three prisons by the charity Prison Advice and Care Trust (pact) play an important role in helping people cope with the stress of arriving at a prison. In evaluating the impact of pact’s first night services, the report concludes they help address the overriding concern of new arrivals:

In the prisons working with pact, people tended to experience fewer difficulties and less frustration in making contact with family than those in the comparison prisons.

A striking example of the difficulty of contacting family – in which the problems relate not only to the practicalities of making a telephone call from prison, but also the associated emotional pressures – was provided by a prisoner in a prison without pact’s services, who said of his elderly and frail parents:

I can’t find a way to tell them [I am in prison]. I was thinking of writing them a letter, but how can I put it? So that has been a big worry. They said, ‘You got a free phone call.’ I said I didn’t want it then. They said, ‘Well, you can come get it within a week.’ I went back and they said ‘You’re too late. You’ll have to pay for it yourself.’ But I have no money.

This individual also said that if a pact-type service had been available in the prison, “I could have spoken to them about my family. Six weeks in and I am still in the same place. I haven’t solved it.”

Pact workers perform a number of roles in the three first night in custody centres where they are based, at HMP Exeter, HMP Holloway and HMP Wandsworth. These include identifying immediate needs and concerns, family liaison and referral to specialist services.

The report makes a number of recommendations to the government and the Prison Service, including:

·         All local prisons should have specific first night services, based on good practice and fully resourced

·         Local prisons should increase opportunities for contact with families during the first few days

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

The sobering truth is that, despite considerable efforts by the prison service, already this year the number of suicides in prison has exceeded the number for the whole of last year. The government needs to act now.

Almost a third of suicides occur within the first week of someone arriving in custody. This report shows the value of specialist first night services to help prisoners cope when they are at their most vulnerable and alone. A simple phone call to family may make all the difference in stopping a new prisoner feeling completely overwhelmed by fears and uncertainties. Investing in first night services now will save lives later.

Much of the stress on prisoners is a function of the record-high prison population. No one knows how many more first nights people will have to endure as they are bussed from one overcrowded jail to another as the prison system tries to cope with the growing number of people in prison.

Andy Keen-Downs, director of pact said:

This report offers us real cause for hope.  It provides independent evidence that a human, family-focused approach to the treatment of prisoners on their first night in custody can make all the difference to reducing the risk of prisoner suicide. 

I hope that more prisons will be encouraged to work in partnership with the voluntary sector to develop similar schemes, and that the Government will provide the necessary funding and support to make this sustainable.

To read the full report click here