Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to commitments given by his Department to the Equality and Human Rights Commission on preventing the unlawful use of PAVA spray in prisons in October 2020, when he plans to publish national use of force statistics.

The department continues to work towards publication of national use of force statistics. We have improved the recording of use force incidents, using a digital platform that collects more information on who we are using force on. In order to publish the data, we must ensure it meets minimum standards and be robust for the purpose of its intended use and scrutiny. This is be considered alongside other priorities for data publication.