Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to tackle physical violence between prisoners in prisons.

Reducing violence in prisons remains a key priority. We are working hard to make prisons as safe as possible and are continuing our efforts to address the levels of violence in prisons.

We have completed our landmark £100 million Security Investment Programme to clamp down on illicit items such as drugs, mobile phones and weapons – that drive prison violence and undermine safety.

To support those at raised risk of being violent, we have introduced the Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan (CSIP), a case management approach that is centred around the individual and addressing the underlying causes of their violence, including specific risk factors and needs, to help them manage and move away from violent behaviours.

To ensure our staff are equipped with the right tools to protect themselves and prisoners from serious assaults, we have completed the roll out of PAVA – a synthetic pepper spray – for use by prison officers in the adult male estate alongside SPEAR, a personal safety training package.

We are continuing with plans for a phased removal of wet-shave razors in up to 30 prisons in the adult male estate in 2024/25.