Found: into sentencing as well, where we do not feel as though that is being treated in the spirit of the Assaults

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the levels of security in community pharmacies to ensure (a) staff and (b) public safety.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an estimate of the amount of medication that has been stolen from community pharmacies in the last year.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has taken recent steps to ensure that there is increased security for medicines within community pharmacies.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many incidences of assault have been committed against community pharmacy staff in the last year.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the safety of community pharmacies.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there have been under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 in each of the last two years.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of offenders convicted for offences relating to assault on emergency worker, covering the period requested. The latest data available, up to the year ending June 2023, can be obtained with the following data tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: June 2023.

In the data tool, navigate to ‘Prosecutions and Convictions’ tab and select ‘8.22 Assault of an emergency worker’ in the ‘Offence’ filter.

The pivot table will present the total number of offenders convicted for assaulting an emergency worker since year ending June 2011, including the requested last two years.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions for assaults against prison officers have been dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service on the grounds of not being in the (a) public interest and (b) interests of justice in each of the last five years.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold data on the number of prosecutions for offences relating specifically to assaults on prison officers. The number of prosecutions commenced in the last five years for charges relating to assault and/or battery against emergency workers (charged by way of section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers
(Offences) Act 2018), which include prison officers, is set out below. It would not be possible to determine the outcome of these prosecutions or whether the charge related specifically to an assault on a prison officer without an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Found: (Amendment) Order 2014 • The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 • Domestic Abuse Act

Found: (Amendment) Order 2014 • The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 The Powers of Criminal