With the Prison and Courts Bill 2016-17 currently being discussed in Parliament, debate is ongoing about what protection should be offered to prisoners suffering from mental health issues.
Prisons have the power to refer a prisoner to the Ministry of Justice in order to request an assessment for a transfer to hospital for the treatment of a mental disorder. These provisions can be found under Section 47/49 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (with Section 48/49 relevant to those on remand) if the mental illness is of a nature or degree that warrants treatment.
This, however, does not help those with ‘minor’ mental illnesses as it can often be hard to find appropriate assistance in the prison environment. It has been proposed, by the non-departmental body NICE, that yearly mental health assessments need to take place for all prisoners in order to detect any mental illness. This does not relate to prisoners alone; the group suggest that more comprehensive support is needed to identify and treat mental illnesses throughout the criminal justice system. With up to 90% of the prison population suffering from some form of mental illness, these provisions are necessary for the protection of all those involved.
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health also argues that the current system does not do enough to meet both the physical and mental health needs of prisoners, with this attributing to the high prison population. They claim that, under the current provisions, many prisoners leave prison with serious mental illnesses and do not receive the necessary assistance in order to help them manage this in the community. This can often lead to reoffending behaviour and even suicide.
However this is not the full story. There are many factors that have an impact on the prison population, with mental health being one of these. Rev Paul Nicolson, from the non-profit organisation Taxpayers Against Poverty, argues that stagnating welfare benefits and the associated deprivation and risk of homelessness are the main causes of this issue. He states that mothers are unable to offer sufficient nutrition to their children during pregnancy. This in turn causes a low birth weight, one of the leading causes of behavioural disorders.
Whilst the high imprisonment rate cannot necessarily be attributed to poor mental health provisions, there still appears to be a lack of support for people suffering from mental illnesses throughout the criminal justice system.