Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take to tackle violence against prison staff.

We will not tolerate violence against our hardworking prison staff and will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. Prisoners who are violent towards staff will face the full consequences of their actions.

To protect staff from serious assaults, Body Worn Video Cameras, and rigid-bar handcuffs are currently available for use by staff. Batons and PAVA (a synthetic pepper spray) are also available for use by prison officers in the adult male estate. Protective Body Armour (PBA) is worn by specialist prison staff, and by officers in cases where there is planned use of force, or where safe systems of work for the management of high-risk prisoners dictates.

We have expanded security measures such as X-ray body scanners and airport-style Enhanced Gate Security to tackle the smuggling of drugs, mobile phones and other contraband which can drive violence in prisons.

We are committed to removing wet shave razors, which can be used as weapons, from adult male closed prisons. Electric shavers have been rolled out in 31 priority sites and this rollout will continue in 2025/26.

Those who are assessed as posing a raised risk of being violent are supported through 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.

A review into whether protective body armour should be made available to frontline staff, is underway and an operational trial into Conductive Energy Devices (CEDs, commonly known as “tasers”) for specialised officers will be launched to help staff respond to high-risk incidents more effectively. The findings from this trial will inform any future decisions around the use of tasers in the prison estate.