My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Maria Eagle) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

In February this year, I published the independent review of the Forum for Preventing Deaths in Custody (Official Report, Commons, 25/2/08; col. 68WS). I did so in order to canvass the opinions of those both inside and outside Parliament with an interest in this important area of work.

Ministers have now had the opportunity to consider both the recommendations of the review and the responses of stakeholders and I am pleased to announce today that we have decided to implement the recommended reforms. We are therefore taking steps to set up a new tripartite body, to be known as the Ministerial Council on Deaths in Custody, incorporating senior decision-makers, experts and practitioners in the field. This extended, cross-sector approach to deaths in custody will allow for better learning and sharing of lessons across the custodial sectors and will benefit from direct links to Ministers, as the ultimate decision-makers. The reforms underline our commitment to reducing the number of people who die in our custodial institutions and the new structures will be subject to review after three years to evaluate their impact.

The intention is that the new ministerial council will be in place by early 2009.

Further information on the work of the forum to date and copies of the independent review are available on the internet at www.preventingcustodydeaths.org.uk. Copies of the independent review have also been made available in the Libraries of both Houses.