Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of assaults on prison officers by prisoners resulted in a prosecution in each year since 2010.

Detailed information on the proportion of assaults on prison staff since 2010 is held on court record but to be able to identify these cases we would have to access individual court records which would be of disproportionate cost.

We take violence against our staff very seriously. We have invested in 5,600 Body Worn Video Cameras (BWVC) across the prison estate which has been rolled out alongside training in staff interaction with prisoners, to support better relationships. We have also begun implementation for a national rollout of PAVA, a synthetic pepper spray, which will provide prison officers with additional safety equipment to reduce the risk of serious injury.

Staff will be able to use the PAVA spray where there is serious violence or an imminent or perceived risk of it and there is an immediate necessity to create a safe and protective environment. Only prisons who have rolled out the key worker scheme – which is vital in building relationships between offenders and staff – will receive PAVA.

Alongside the rollout of PAVA will be the introduction of a new Personal Safety package; (S.P.E.A.R.). This is to ensure that PAVA is introduced as part of a wider package of skills for staff to resolve and deescalate incidents. The training is based on using the body’s natural flinch reaction when faced with danger and focuses on pre-contact cues to give staff greater awareness of their surroundings. We are also rolling out rigid bar handcuffs to prison officers as part of our continued focus on improving safety and reducing violence.