Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there have been for assaults on prison officers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants convicted for offences relating to assault on prison officers, from 2010 to 2022, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2022, using the following HO codes:

• 10504 – Assaulting a prisoner custody officer or custody officer

• 00873 – Assault or assault by beating of an emergency worker

The assault on a prison officer can be prosecuted under both ‘Assaulting a prisoner custody officer or custody officer’ and ‘Assault or assault by beating of an emergency worker’ offences since the enactment of Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018. However, whether the offences under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 relate to assaults specifically on prison officers is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings database. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would incur disproportionate costs.