Prisons: Crimes of Violence and Self-harm

(asked on 1st November 2018) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of (a) self harm, (b) violence against prisoners and (c) violence against prison staff per 100 prisoners there were in each prison in each of the last five years.


Answered by
 Portrait
Rory Stewart
This question was answered on 9th November 2018

The tables show the numbers of self-harm incidents, assault incidents on prisoners, and assault incidents on staff, per 100 prisoners, for each prison from 2013 to 2017 inclusive.

The Government takes very seriously its responsibility to keep prisoners safe, and we are committed to reducing the incidence of self-harm across the estate. This is why we have established a prison safety programme through which we are taking forward a comprehensive set of actions to improve safety in custody. We have invested in over 3,000 additional staff in order to deliver consistent, purposeful regimes. We have also introduced the new key worker role, under which staff can give prisoners more effective challenge and support.

Our prison staff work incredibly hard and we are under no illusions about the challenges they face. We are taking urgent action to make prisons safer, and assaults on our staff will never be tolerated. That is why we are working with the Police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure successful prosecutions of those who assault them. It is also why the Government supported the recently passed Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act, which increases sentences for those who attack emergency workers, including prison officers.

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