Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps he has taken to help protect prison officers from violence.

Staff must be able to expect a safe and decent work environment. We will not tolerate any violence against prison officers and prisoners who are violent towards staff will face the full consequences of their actions.

We have invested over £40 million into new physical security measures to clamp down on the contraband that fuels violence behind bars - including £10 million on drone countermeasures.

We are also investing around £15 million in protective equipment to help keep frontline staff safe, including roll out of up to 10,000 pieces of protective body armour, and training for up to 500 staff in the use of tasers. This is a significant expansion on the roll out of protective body armour last year to staff working in specialist units in the Long-Term and High Security Estate, and the trial of tasers that commenced last summer.

Electric razors are now supplied to all public sector prisons in the adult male closed estate, replacing wet shave razors due to their potential use as weapons.