To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of prisoners were diagnosed with mental health problems during the latest period for which figures are available. (294296)

I have been asked to reply.

Figures about the number of prisoners with mental health problems are not routinely collected. However a survey of mental ill health in the prison population undertaken in 1997 by the Office for National Statistics estimated that around 90 per cent. of prisoners had at least one of the five disorders (personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse, and drug dependence) considered in the survey. Co-morbidity levels were also high.

In 2008 Ministry of Justice research suggested that common mental health problems are very prevalent with 82 per cent. of prisoners on sentences of less than four years identified with anxiety or depression.