Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2018 to Question 186964 on Prisons: Crimes of Violence and Self-harm, how many incidents of violence per 100 prisoners there were in each prison in each of the last five years.

Figures for the rates of all violent incidents can be obtained by adding the figures given in the Answer to Question 186964 for rates of assaults on staff to those for rates of assaults on prisoners. In a limited number of cases an incident will have involved assault on both a member of staff and a prisoner, so those totals may slightly exceed the totals that would be produced by using the published numbers of assaults for the years in question.

In order to improve safety, we have recruited 4,300 new prison officers over the last two years, with 1,400 more due to begin training soon. We are investing an extra £70 million to improve safety, security and decency, and we are equipping officers with PAVA incapacitant spray to help prevent serious harm to staff and prisoners when dealing with violent incidents. We are also tackling the drugs that we know are fuelling much of the violence in custody. This includes spending on new x-ray scanners, drug-detection dogs, phone-blocking technology and dedicated search teams.

In addition, the Government supported the recent Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act, which increases sentences for those who attack emergency workers, including prison officers.