Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Ministers in her Department have had discussions with the Prison Officers' Association on the issuing of PAVA spray to prison officers in the youth estate since the general election.

Whether PAVA spray should be made available to officers in the youth estate was one of the matters discussed when the Secretary of State and the Minister for Prisons met representatives of the Prison Officers Association in July. We are considering all available information on this complex matter, including hearing the representations from a number of stakeholders with a range of perspectives.