Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times was PAVA spray deployed in (a) Youth Offender Institutes and (b) prisons in each year since 2019.

PAVA is intended to protect staff and prisoners in very serious assaults. Safe implementation of PAVA use is accompanied by clear and explicit guidance ensuring staff are confident as to when PAVA spray should be used. Staff can use the PAVA spray where there is serious violence or an imminent or perceived risk of it, and there is an immediate need to create a safe and protective environment. It has been rollout out to prison officers in the adult estate only.

PAVA may be deployed by specialist staff, on the authority of the Gold commander, in Young Offender Institutes that hold those under 18 years of age as a tactical option to resolve an incident for the safety of young people and staff.

PAVA has been deployed once in 2019 at Feltham (A). There have been no other uses the under-18 YOI estate.

There has been an increase in PAVA use as HMPPS have rolled out to all adult male prisons and therefore it is available to more staff to respond to violent incidents where appropriate.

The information requested is in the attached tables for adult YOIs and prisons.