§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many staff assaults have occurred at The Wolds prison since it opened; and what is the average rate of staff assaults per 100 prisoners;
(2) how many recorded prisoner on prisoner assaults have taken place in each month since The Wolds prison opened;
(3) how many staff assaults have occurred at Blakenhurst since the prison opened; and what is the average rate of assaults per 100 prisoners.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for these matters has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 28 March 1994:
ASSAULTS AT THE WOLDS AND BLAKENHURST
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about assaults on staff at Blakenhurst and the Wolds and on prisoners at the Wolds.
The Wolds opened in April 1992. During its first year of operation there were 36 assaults on staff proved at adjudication, equivalent to 18 per 100 average population of prisoners. In the eleven months to February 1994 there were 29 such assaults, equivalent to an annual rate of 10 per 100 average population. Blakenhurst opened in May 1993 and in the first ten months of its operation there were 81 assaults on staff, equivalent to an annual rate of 28 per 100 average population. This experience is consistent with that of new public-sector prisons, where the number of assaults is often higher in the period after opening and then declines.
I attach a table showing the monthly figures of prisoner on prisoner assaults at the Wolds.
560W
The Wolds Assaults on prisoners 1992 April 0 May 0 June 0 July 0 August 1 September 0 October 1 November 4 December 3 1993 January 0 February 3 March 4 April 1 May 1 June 1 July 0 August 0 September 0 October 1 November 0 December 0 19941 January 2 February 1 1 Provisional.