Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many acts of concerted indiscipline have there been in prison in each year since 2010.

Figures are held by the department from 2014 onwards and are included below.

Concerted Indiscipline is defined as an incident involving two or more prisoners acting against the requirements or the regime of the establishment.

Not every Concerted Indiscipline relates to a violent incident as these figures include both passive acts of protest such as “sit down protests” as well as active incidents such as violent disorder.

2014 – 164

2015 – 196

2016 – 210

2017 – 233

2018 – 140

We do not tolerate violence or disruptive behaviour in our prisons. This is why we’ve recruited 4,300 additional officers and are spending an extra £70m on safety, security and the fabric of the prison estate. Drugs are a major factor in fuelling violence in prisons, and this investment will help fund a range of new security measures to stop them getting in, including airport style security, improved searching techniques and phone-blocking technology. We are also committed to ensuring our prison officers have the tools they need to do the job safely by rolling out body worn cameras, ‘police-style’ handcuffs and restraints, and PAVA incapacitant spray. Fundamentally, however, the key to safe prisons is the relationships between prisoners and prison officers, which is why we are investing in training and support for officers to further develop a consistent, disciplined and humane approach to behaviour management.