Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) charges and (b) successful prosecutions brought against prisoners for assaults against staff in private prisons in (a) 2020, (b) 2021, (c) 2022 and (d) 2023.

HMPPS published the revised Crime in Prison Referral Agreement in October 2022. The agreement to ensure that all acts of criminality that occur in prison are properly addressed within the criminal justice system, particularly in circumstances that indicate that a criminal prosecution is appropriate or where a statutory obligation exists.

It is not possible to identify the number of charges and successful prosecutions brought against prisoners for assaults against staff in HM Prison and Probation Service in the last four years as this information is not held centrally. Detailed information may be held on local administrative records, but to be able to identify these cases we would have to access and review all potentially relevant records which would be of disproportionate cost.

Statistics on assaults on staff are published quarterly in the Safety in Custody publication, the next release will be on the 25th January 2024.