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<p>We will never compromise on the safety of those in our care, and staff are trained
to respond to emergency situations in a timely, appropriate manner. The Government
is taking unprecedented action to improve safety in custody. We have invested significantly
in increased staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,366 (full time equivalent)
prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019, surpassing our original target
of 2,500. We will continue to recruit officers to ensure prisons are safe and decent.</p><p>
</p><p>The table below provides the numbers of all fires in prisons between 2016 –
2018. Data prior to 2016 was not collected centrally and, as such, no reliable data
before that time exists. However, the figures below show a significant fall in the
number of fires in 2018, which coincides with the implementation of smoke free prisons
and our actions to improve safety in custody.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number
of fires</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Reduction as a percentage of previous year’s
total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>Data not available</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>Data
not available</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>2,314</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>2,287</p></td><td><p>1.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>1,517</p></td><td><p>50.1%</p></td></tr></tbody></table>
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