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1241289

	registered interest
	date	07/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of violence in prisons.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
	tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
	uin	100427
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>Data showing the trends for and levels of violence in prisons is published in the quarterly in the government’s Safety in Custody statistics publication:<br> <br> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics</a></p><p>The most recent data shows a decrease in assault incidents in the 12 months to March 2020, which are down 8% from the previous year. This included a 5% decrease in assaults on staff and a 7% reduction in serious assault from the previous 12 months. Assaults have now fallen for the last three published quarters.</p><p>Despite the progress made, the level of violence in prisons remains too high and we continue to work hard to address this. We are giving staff the tools and training to help them reduce violence including embedding the Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan to support those at risk of violence, the roll-out of PAVA incapacitant spray and implementing key work across the prison estate. We are also increasing staffing numbers, and investing in £100 million in tough security measures to keep the illicit items which fuel violence out of prisons.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 12/10/2020 16:27:41 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1245018

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of rates of assaults on prison staff by custody categories (a) male A, (b) male B, (c) male C, (d) male D, (e) female restricted, (f) female closed, (g) female open, (h) young offender institution and (i) youth custody; and during (i) daytime and (ii) night-time, in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	106278
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2020 answer text <p>The rates of assaults on prison staff by prison categorisation is set out in the attached table.</p><p> </p><p>Violence against our hard-working prison officers is unacceptable, and we work closely with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to bring the perpetrators to justice. Additionally, as outlined in our Sentencing White Paper, we will double the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency worker from 12 months to two years.</p><p> </p><p>We are also giving officers PAVA pepper spray and body-worn cameras to make their jobs safer, as well as access to post incident care teams, occupational health support and counselling for those who need it. More widely, we are spending £100 million to bolster prison security, clamping down on the weapons, drugs and mobile phones that fuel violence and crime behind bars. This will fund tough airport-style security, body scanners and phone-blocking technology.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 28/10/2020 16:13:31 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer attachment 1 file name Copy of PQ 106278 (002).xlsx title Table
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1551089

	registered interest
	date	13/12/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prison staff who required hospital treatment following a prisoner assault in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Steve Reed
	uin	109598
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2022 answer text <p>The number of incidents of a prisoner assault leading to a prison staff member requiring hospital treatment 2019-2021 can be seen in the below table.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number of assaults leading to a staff member requiring hospital treatment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>1,335</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>871</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>951</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Figures may include prison staff who have been hospitalised in assaults between prisoners.</p><p>Total number of prison staff may exceed total number of incidents as some incidents may include more than one prison staff member.</p><p>Consistent with National Statistics on these prison incidents, as published in <em>Safety in Custody</em>, figures do not include incidents in Secure Training Centres.</p><p><strong>Data Sources and Quality</strong></p><p>These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.</p><p>The Prisons Strategy White Paper set out how we will improve safety and security in our prisons. Prison staff carry out a vital role in protecting the public and we will do all we can to protect them and prisoners from violence.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 19/12/2022 16:36:09 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1250826

	registered interest
	date	11/11/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of violence and self-harm in prisons in (a) the West Midlands and (b) England; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the incidence of violence and self-harm in those prisons.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
	tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
	uin	114210
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2020 answer text <p>The attached table shows the number of assaults and self-harm incidents by prisoners in custody in the West Midlands and England, from January 2019 to June 2020.</p><p>Levels of self-harm fell 15% in the most recent quarter (April to June 2020) in England and Wales and violence fell by 37% over the same time period and by 19% in the 12 months to June 2020. Levels of self-harm and violence also fell in prisons in the West Midlands over the most recent quarter.</p><p>Statistics for the 12 months to June, and particularly those for the April to June quarter, relate to the exceptional period since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restricted regimes prisons put in place in order to safely manage the risks of infection during the pandemic. This affects the comparability of the statistics with earlier periods.</p><p>With a small number of tragic exceptions, the decisive action we took at the beginning of the pandemic has meant tens of thousands of officers and prisoners have been kept safe in the face of perhaps the greatest challenge ever to face the service.</p><p>We are under no illusions about the impact of the measures which were put in place to protect lives and we have made prisoners’ wellbeing our priority. We’ve enabled continued family contact through more than 1,500 secure mobile phones and secure video calls and provided a range of in-cell activities to mitigate the impact of isolation. We continue to work closely with the Samaritans who are providing support for Listeners - selected prisoners trained to provide emotional support to their fellow prisoners and who continue to offer their phone service for emotional support.</p><p>More widely, we are spending £100 million to bolster prison security, clamping down on the weapons, drugs and mobile phones that fuel violence and crime behind bars. This is funding tough measures including x-ray body scanners and phone-blocking technology. We are giving officers tools like PAVA pepper spray and body-worn cameras to make their jobs safer.</p><p>We recognise the need to remain vigilant to the risks to prisoners and staff as impacts of the virus continue.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 19/11/2020 17:52:39 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer attachment 1 file name Copy of PQ 114210 ~ table.xlsx title Table
	tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1271306

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of assaults (a) between prisoners and (b) against staff were committed during education activities in (i) YOI institutions and (ii) all prisons in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	City of Durham
	tabling member printed	Mary Kelly Foy
	uin	130221
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2021 answer text <p>Please find data showing assaults committed during education activities in the 12 months to June 2020 in the attached table. Please note that assaults committed during education activities are a total of the assaults that, when reported, had their location flagged as &quot;Education&quot;.</p><p>Despite the progress made, the level of violence in prisons remains too high. We are continuing work to address this by giving all staff the tools and training to help them reduce violence.</p><p>Violence in prison is a crime. Any prisoner who commits an act of violence can expect to have action taken against them.</p><p>We are spending £100 million to bolster prison security, clamping down on the weapons, drugs and mobile phones that fuel violence and crime behind bars. This is funding tough measures including x-ray body scanners and phone-blocking technology.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 11/01/2021 16:43:24 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer attachment 1 file name Copy of Table of Assaults_PQ_130221.xlsx title Table
	tabling member	4753 label Biography information for Mary Kelly Foy

1176858

	registered interest
	date	06/02/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many adjudications related to instances of violence against prison staff there were in each year since 2010; and how many of those adjudications resulted in no additional days being added to the prisoner's sentence.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	13458
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>The prisoner discipline system upholds justice in prisons and ensures incidents of prison rule-breaking have consequences. Only Independent Adjudicators, who are District Judges or Deputy District Judges can make an award of additional days to a prisoner’s custodial time left to serve.</p><p> </p><p>Where an act of violence amounts to a criminal offence, prisoners should be investigated by the police and face serious sanctions. The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 has increased sentencing powers for offences of common assault and battery committed against an emergency worker. This provides Courts with the powers to punish those who commit violent crime against prison staff.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested can be found in the table below:</p><p><strong>Number of punishments for proven adjudications involving violence, 2011 - 2018, England and Wales<sup>1</sup></strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Offence</strong></p></td><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Violence against prison staff<sup>2</sup></strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number of proven adjudications </strong></p></td><td><p>1,361</p></td><td><p>2,102</p></td><td><p>1,788</p></td><td><p>1,763</p></td><td><p>2,436</p></td><td><p>2,829</p></td><td><p>3,006</p></td><td><p>3,645</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number of &quot;non-additional days&quot; punishments<sup>1</sup></strong></p></td><td><p>2,797</p></td><td><p>4,086</p></td><td><p>3,269</p></td><td><p>2,956</p></td><td><p>3,885</p></td><td><p>4,206</p></td><td><p>4,372</p></td><td><p>5,247</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number of &quot;additional days&quot; punishments<sup>1</sup></strong></p></td><td><p>208</p></td><td><p>321</p></td><td><p>304</p></td><td><p>328</p></td><td><p>463</p></td><td><p>655</p></td><td><p>697</p></td><td><p>876</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total number of punishments<sup>1</sup></strong></p></td><td><p>3,005</p></td><td><p>4,407</p></td><td><p>3,573</p></td><td><p>3,284</p></td><td><p>4,348</p></td><td><p>4,861</p></td><td><p>5,069</p></td><td><p>6,123</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Data sources and quality</strong></p><p>The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.</p><p>Due to data quality issues, 2010 figures have not been provided and therefore no conclusion can be drawn for the annual 2010 data and no comparison can be made with 2010 figures.</p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><p>1 - Punishments can only be given where an adjudication has been proven and therefore exclude all other adjudications that have been dismissed or not proceeded with. One or more punishments may be imposed onto prisoners. If the charge against the accused prisoner is found to be proved beyond reasonable doubt, the adjudicator will then decide the appropriate punishment(s). The Prison or Young Offender Institution Rules provide guidelines when considering appropriate punishments, taking into account the circumstances and seriousness of the offence, and its effect on the victim (if any), the likely impact on the prisoner (including any health or welfare impact), the prisoner's age, behaviour in custody, remaining time to release, the type of establishment and the effect of the offence on local discipline and good order. Also the number of awards may be given at one establishment and applied at another.</p><p>2 - Offences refer to assaults and attempts of assaults.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 13/02/2020 15:42:38 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1286960

	registered interest
	date	19/02/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many attacks on prison officers occurred in the last five years by (a) year and (b) type of offence.
	tabling member constituency	Rutland and Melton
	tabling member printed	Alicia Kearns
	uin	155441
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2021 answer text <p>Please see the attached table showing the number of prisoner assaults on staff, by offence of prisoner, 2016 to 2019 and January to September 2020 and the number of assaults on staff for 2015.</p><p> </p><p>Violence against our hard-working prison officers is unacceptable and will never be tolerated, and we work closely with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to bring the perpetrators to justice. Additionally, as outlined in our Sentencing White Paper, we will double the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency worker from 12 months to two years.</p><p>We are also giving officers tools like PAVA pepper spray and body-worn cameras to make their jobs safer, as well as access to post incident care teams, occupational health support and counselling for those who need it. More widely, we are spending £100 million to bolster prison security, clamping down on the weapons, drugs and mobile phones that fuel violence and crime behind bars. This is funding tough measures including X-ray body scanners, drug dogs and phone-blocking technology.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 01/03/2021 16:10:20 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer attachment 1 file name PQ 155441 data table v1.xlsx title Table
	tabling member	4805 label Biography information for Alicia Kearns

1286961

	registered interest
	date	19/02/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, of the total convictions recorded in the last five years involving a crime committed by a prisoner against a prison officer or another employee of Her Majesty's Prison Service, how many and what proportion of those convictions resulted in an additional (non-concurrent) sentence for the perpetrator.
	tabling member constituency	Rutland and Melton
	tabling member printed	Alicia Kearns
	uin	155442
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2021 answer text <p>Violence against our hardworking staff will not be tolerated and any prisoner who commits an act of violence will be held to account.</p><p>Currently, data is not held centrally on the number of convictions for crimes committed by a prisoner against prison employees. This is being reviewed with the aim to collate data from all establishments for all crimes committed in prison, whilst also creating guidance on how to appropriately refer crimes committed in prison to the police.</p><p>The ‘Crime in Prison Referral Agreement’ was created in May 2019 and sets out the agreement between Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The aim is to ensure that acts of criminality that occur in prison are appropriately addressed within the Criminal Justice System.</p><p>In line with the Crime in Prison Referral Agreement, assaults against members of staff will be referred to the police for investigation and consideration for prosecution. Less serious assaults, where there is little or no injury, are more appropriately dealt with by the prison disciplinary system.</p><p>The courts retain the discretion to decide whether sentences should be served concurrently or consecutively, based on the facts of the case. The Sentencing Council’s Totality guideline provides courts with guidance on whether sentences should be served concurrently or consecutively. Where the individual is serving a determinate sentence and commits another offence after the original sentence was imposed, the new sentence will generally be consecutive to the original sentence.</p><p>Our Assaults on Emergency Workers Act increased the maximum penalty for to 12 months and we recently announced we will double the penalty further to two years.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 01/03/2021 16:12:28 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4805 label Biography information for Alicia Kearns

1150332

	registered interest
	date	17/10/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of assaults on prison staff were (a) dealt with by the prison and (b) charged as an offence in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	1638
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2019 answer text <p>HMPPS has been working closely with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure they understand the impact of crimes committed within prison. HMPPS published the revised Crime in Prison Referral Agreement in May 2019. This Agreement sets out how crimes in prison will be referred, investigated and prosecuted and aims to provide a more consistent approach to managing crimes committed within prison. The Crime in Prison Referral Agreement specifies that all assaults against members of staff, unless there is little or no injury should be referred to the police.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to identify the proportion of assaults on prison staff has been charged as an offence in each of the last five years as this information is not held centrally. Detailed information may be held on court record but to be able to identify these cases we would have to access individual court records which would be of disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 23/10/2019 16:40:21 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1150334

	registered interest
	date	17/10/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of days that were added to a prisoner's sentence for violence against (a) a member of staff and (b) another prisoner was in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	1640
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2019 answer text <p>The prisoner discipline system upholds justice in prisons and ensures incidents of prisoner rule-breaking have consequences. In cases which the prison governor deems the rule-breaking to be sufficiently serious an Independent Adjudicator, appointed by the Chief Magistrate, can attend a prison to award additional days to the prisoner’s custodial time left to serve. Where an act of violence amounts to a criminal offence, prisoners should will be investigated by the police and face serious sanctions.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the proportion of adjudications which resulted in no additional days being added to a prisoner's time in custody by offence is not routinely extracted from the adjudications database, as the primary purpose of the database is to report on the volume of punishments imposed. Prisoners can receive more than one punishment for the same offence, so in order to collect this specific information on prisoners, a matching exercise using prison population and adjudication databases would be required to identify each individual prisoner who was sanctioned under the Prison Rules. As a result, the data could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the number of adjudications for violence which resulted in additional days to a prisoner’s custodial time to serve is publicly available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The publicly available data also provides information on the number of adjudications by gender and adjudication offence. See Table A5.1 at the following link:</p><p>https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796921/adjudications-2018.ods</p><p>On the prison population for 30 June 2018, select table A1.1 using the link below:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820163/population-30June2019-annual.ods" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820163/population-30June2019-annual.ods</a>.</p><p>The number of adjudications per 100 male and female prisoners can be calculated from tables A5.1 and A1.1, but this information has been attached to this response for ease.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the number of awards of additional days where an adjudication involving violence against staff and prisoners was proven and the average number of additional days added for 2011 – 2018 is also attached to this response. Please note that due to data quality issues, 2010 figures have not been provided and therefore no conclusion can be drawn for the annual 2010 data and no comparison can be made with 2010 figures.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 1634 1637 1639 question first answered 24/10/2019 15:44:09 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies