Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) assaults and (b) serious assaults on staff were recorded in each prison in each quarter from 2010 to 2018 by the type of injury inflicted.

Data for the numbers of assaults and serious assaults in each prison, broken down by type of weapon and type of injury, is set out in the attached tables. The figures are presented by calendar year rather than by quarter. This is because analysis at the level of detail requested produces many results of 5 or fewer. Disclosure-proofing to reduce the risk of identification, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, requires such low numbers to be suppressed. Even at the annual level, some such values have had to be suppressed.

The Government is taking unprecedented action to improve safety in prisons. We have recruited over 4,700 more prison officers since October 2016, and we now have the greatest number in post since early 2012. The Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan case management process for prisoners at risk of violence has been mandated for all prisons to help staff to manage violent prisoners and those identified as posing a raised risk of being violent.

We are investing an extra £70 million to improve safety, security and decency, and equipping officers with PAVA incapacitant spray and body-worn cameras to help prevent serious harm to staff and prisoners when dealing with violent incidents. We are improving perimeter security and introducing new x-ray scanners, drug-detection dogs and dedicated search teams to address the supply of drugs that we know are fuelling much of the violence in custody.