§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many assaults by prisoners on other inmates and on prison officers took place in each of the last 10 years; what assessment he has made of the extent to which these assaults are influenced by drug and alcohol intoxication; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter 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 A. J. Butler to Mr. Frank Field, dated 31 March 1994:
Assaults in prisons
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent question about the numbers of assaults by prisoners on other inmates and on prison officers during the last ten years.
The available information is for the number of assaults proved at adjudication hearings and these are published each year in 'Statistics of Offences against Prison Discipline and Punishments England and Wales'. For convenience, the figures are on the attached table.
943WI regret that no information is available centrally on the influence, if any, of drug and alcohol intoxication on these assaults.
Assaults1 on staff, prisoners and others in Prison Service establishments 1984 to 1993 Number 1984 3,273 1985 3,473 1986 3,443 1987 3,548 1988 3,512 1989 3,636 1990 3,801 1991 4,062 1992 4,458 21993 5,320 1 Proved at adjudication, includes attempt, incite or assist an assault. 2 Provisional.