Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases were reported of violence committed by prisoners against prison staff in each month of (a) 2019 and (b) 2020 to date.

The number of cases of reported violence committed by prisoners against prison staff in each month are published as part of the Safety in Custody statistics, a summary of the figures for 2019 is provided below:

January – 835

February – 841

March – 863

April – 868

May – 894

June – 855

July – 857

August – 834

September – 771

October – 844

November – 763

December – 770

These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although the figures are shown to the last individual the figures may not be accurate to that level.

The figures for January to March 2020 are not yet available and will be published on July 30th.

Our prison staff work incredibly hard, and we do not underestimate the challenges they face. We will continue to with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure prosecutions of those who assault them. We also provide post incident care teams, occupational health support and counselling for those who need it.