Question to the Ministry of Justice:

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.

The rates of assaults on prison staff by prison categorisation is set out in the attached table.

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.

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.