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<p>We publish the number of assaults against prison staff, broken down by prison,
as part of our Safety in Custody statistics, in Table 8e of the summary tables, available
at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-september-2023"
target="_blank">Safety in custody: quarterly update to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).</a></p><p>Figures
up until September 2023 have been published at the above link, however figures for
the whole of 2023 are not due for publication until April 2024 and cannot be released
at this time.</p><p>We are committed to making prisons a safe place to work and providing
prison officers with the right support, training and tools to empower them to do their
jobs.</p><p>To protect staff and prisoners in very serious assaults, we are continuing
to roll out PAVA – a synthetic pepper spray – for use by prison officers in the adult
male estate. Staff are able to use the PAVA spray where there is serious violence
or an imminent or perceived risk of it.</p><p>We have rolled out a new Body Worn Video
Camera system which has increased the overall number of cameras across public sector
prisons to over 13,000. This enables every operational band 3-5 officer on shift to
wear a camera. They are supported by a new Policy Framework which mandates the wearing
of the cameras.</p><p>The new Body Worn Video Camera system will be fully networked
and accessible via current prison IT improving access to footage and the ability to
share it with other agencies, with the overall aim of increasing use and transparency.
The cameras will provide high-quality evidence to support prosecutions against prisoners
who commit assaults.</p>
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