Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Bullingdon, published on 1 December 2021, what assessment he has made of the reasons why levels of violence at HMP Bullingdon reduced less as a result of covid restrictions than was the case at other prisons.

The safety of staff and prisoners remains our priority. Staff at HMP Bullingdon are working hard to reduce the number and severity of violent incidents and data is analysed on a weekly basis to understand local trends and themes. We know, for example, that debt and issues outside of the prison are key drivers of violence at HMP Bullingdon. A link has also been identified between on-wing violence and wing-based workers and, as a result, the prison has changed work allocation procedures to better manage that risk. Staff are also working more closely with the mental health team to better support and manage identifying incidents.