27/03/2026
News, CEO blog, Criminal justice sector reports
We know what works: Pact’s response to the HMIP report on remand prisoners
By Andy Keen-Downs CBE, Chief Executive of Pact
Key stats
- Remand prisoners are more than twice as likely (125%) to take their own lives than sentenced prisoners.
- More than 2 in 3 (67%) people arriving in prison on remand have mental health difficulties.
- Fewer than 1 in 5 (19%) remand prisoners are able to call family and friends within 24 hours of arrival.
- Prisoners reported waiting months for mental health medication, even during suicidal crises.
- 16,520 adults were on remand in December 2025 — nearly 1 in 5 (19%) of the prison population.
The early days in prison are some of the most dangerous. There may be shock. A dramatic rupture from the life you knew before. Fear. And suddenly you are alone — locked in a cell, locked in a system that is confusing, alien, and overwhelming, where even the simplest essentials become impossible: getting your medication, checking on your children, letting your mum know where you are.
Being remanded into prison should not be a death sentence. Yet in the past decade nearly 1,000 people have taken their own lives in prison — and those on remand are more than twice as likely to die in this way than those who have been sentenced.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons’ new report on the experiences of people held on remand is a stark and urgent reminder not only of the mental health crisis unfolding inside our prisons, but of the opportunities we are missing to alleviate it. It describes a reality in which people who have not been convicted of a crime enter an environment where distress escalates, support networks fall away, and access to healthcare is inconsistent at best.
More than two thirds of people arriving in custody on remand are living with mental health difficulties, yet many receive little meaningful help at their most vulnerable moments. They report long delays accessing mental health support and difficulties getting the medication they need.
They also struggle simply to contact the people who love them: only 19% had approved phone numbers added to their accounts within 24 hours, leaving many unable to notify partners or family members that they were in custody. People spoke of the frustration and fear this caused. Despite knowing that prisoners are most at risk in these early days, many on remand are facing them without the most basic safeguard we know works: human connection.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ recent thematic review of family services reinforces this — strong, supportive relationships are among the most powerful protective factors we have for improving safety, well‑being, and long‑term outcomes. Yet people on remand are among the least supported to maintain those relationships, with too few visits available, limited encouragement from staff, and no consistent systems to help them contact loved ones.
We have known for years what good practice looks like. In the early 2000s, Pact pioneered First Night and Early Days support in prisons such as Holloway, Exeter and Wandsworth. Our staff — along with trained peer mentors — met new arrivals, identified those most at risk, and ensured rapid family contact. Our ‘Insider’ peer mentors helped them learn the ropes of prison life, but more importantly, they offered a listening ear and spotted individuals who needed urgent help. The results were clear: prisoners felt safer, crises were reduced, and prisons became calmer for everyone.
These solutions are not theoretical. They exist, they have been tested, and they work. And with almost one in five people in prison now on remand, the need has never been greater.
Pact continues to offer life‑saving services across the country, from family link workers to our expanding network of peer mentors. But this good practice should not be remarkable — it should be universal. Services need investment.
If we want safer prisons; if we want to reduce self-harm and mental health crises; if we want people to leave custody in a better state than they entered — then we must rebuild relationship centred support into the very foundations of prison life, starting from the first moments of remand. These early days set the tone for everything that follows. If we fail people at this point, we deepen the harm — to them, to their families, and ultimately to our communities. But if we provide the right support, we can set people on a journey of hope and change.
Let’s take the right path.