Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of violence in prisons.

The Government publishes quarterly statistics on violence in prison, and a more detailed annual breakdown, and both are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-march-2019. The relevant link is ‘Assaults in prison custody 2000 to 2018’ and the information can be found in table 3.1: Prison assaults summary statistics by calendar year, England and Wales, 2000-2018.

There are clear challenges at many of our prisons, with levels of violence unacceptably high.

That’s why we are investing £100m to bolster security and stability in prisons, in addition to £70 million announced previously. This will fund tough airport-style security, including X-ray scanners and metal detectors to clamp down on the drugs, weapons and mobile phones that increase the risk to our officers and hinder rehabilitation.

It will take time for improvements to be seen across the estate but we remain determined to make progress and will continue to prioritise this important work.