Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) knives, (b) guns and (c) other weapons were seized from people visiting prisoners (i) in total and (ii) in each prison in each year since 2010.

The National Offender Management Service takes the importation of all weapons into prisons extremely seriously. Prisons deploy a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect weapons and other items of contraband at the point of entry to the prison.

Records of firearms seizures are held centrally, and I can advise that no firearms have been seized from people visiting prisoners since 2010.

Specific records of other weapons seized from people visiting prisoners are not held centrally. To provide the information you have requested about other weapon types would involve requesting and examining information held locally at all prison establishments which could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.