Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for the purpose of recording the number of assaults in prison, whether his Department records information on the number of (a) incidents, which could involve multiple people, in which at least one assault takes place or (b) each individual assault by each person involved.

Her Majesty's Prison & Probation Service records the number of assault incidents, involving multiple people, in which at least one assault takes place. Where the evidence allows, we also record whether anyone involved is an assailant, a suspected assailant, or a victim. Others may be involved an incident without taking part in the assault, such as prisoners trying to help staff. Where it is not possible clearly to identify an aggressor or a victim, the incident is recorded as a fight and those involved as fighters.

Full details of the methods used for collating these data can be found in the ‘Guide to Safety in Custody Statistics’, available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/797079/safety-custody-statistics-guide.pdf