Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to ensure the safety of staff in prisons.

We do not underestimate the challenges faced by everyone working in prisons. We are committed to making prisons a safe place to work and providing prison staff with the right support, training and tools to empower them to do their jobs.

We are giving officers PAVA pepper spray and body-worn cameras to make their jobs safer, as well as access to post incident care teams, occupational health support and counselling for those who need it. More widely, we are spending £100 million to bolster prison security, clamping down on the weapons, drugs and mobile phones that fuel violence and crime behind bars. This will fund tough airport-style security, body scanners and phone-blocking technology.

Violence against our hardworking prison officers is unacceptable, and we work closely with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to bring the perpetrators to justice. Additionally, as outlined in our Sentencing White Paper we will double the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency worker from 12 months to two years.

Alongside these measures, to ensure staff are safe during the COVID-19 pandemic we are providing PPE and ensuring social distancing is in place where possible.