Prisons: Health and Safety
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that prisons are safe workplaces for staff.
Answered by Sir Nicholas Dakin
Staff must be able to expect a safe and decent work environment. We will not tolerate any violence against prison officers and prisoners who are violent towards staff will face the full consequences of their actions.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 doubled the maximum penalty to up to two years’ imprisonment for those who assault emergency workers, including prison officers. There are higher maximum penalties in place for more serious offences, including ABH, GBH and sexual assault.
We are providing targeted support to adult male prisons with the highest assault rates to tackle local drivers of violence.
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.
To protect staff from serious assaults, prison officers in the adult male estate are provided with PAVA, a synthetic pepper spray. Every prison officer across public sector prisons can wear a Body Worn Video Camera whilst on shift, providing high-quality evidence to support prosecutions against those who commit assaults against staff.
We are implementing measures to ease prison crowding as we know that crowded conditions can increase violent incidents in prisons.
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