HL Deb 25 May 1994 vol 555 cc41-3WA
Baroness Gould of Potternewton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many assaults have occurred on prison staff in each of the five years; and what was the percentage increase from 1989–90 to 1993–94.

Earl Ferrers

Responsibility for the subject of this Question has been delegated to the Prison Service and its Director General, Mr. Derek Lewis. The Director General has therefore responded to the Question and his letter is given below.

Letter to Baroness Gould of Potternewton from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Derek Lewis, dated 25 May 1994.

Lord Ferrers has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many assaults have occurred on

Earl Ferrers

Responsibility for the subject of this Question has been delegated to the Prison Service and its Director General, Mr. Derek Lewis. The Director General has therefore responded to the Question and his letter is given below.

Letter to Baroness Gould of Potternewton from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Derek Lewis; dated 25th May 1994:

Lord Ferrers has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many offences of (a) murder, (b) manslaughter, (c) wounding with intent, (d) grievous bodily harm, (e) actual bodily harm, (f) rape, (g) arson, (h) assault and (g) theft have been committed by serving prisoners on (i) other prisoners, (ii) prison officers and (iii) other staff in each of the past 10 years.

The information available centrally is for homicide offences and for offences against prison discipline under Prison Rule 47, or Young Offender Institution Rule 50 and their equivalents before 1st April 1989. These cover only part of your question. That information which is available is shown on the attached table.

prison staff in each of the five years; and what was the percentage increase from 1989–90 to 1993–94.

The information you have requested is published in the Prison Service's Business Plan for 1994-95. For ease of reference the information requested is given in the table below. The percentage increase from 1989–90 to 1993–94 is 83 per cent.

Assaults1 on staff/others 1989–90 to 1993–94
Year Number
21989–90 1,750
21990–91 1,909
1991–92 2,248
1992–93 2,413
1993–94 3,204
1The number of cases where punishments were imposed on prisoners for disciplinary offences relating to assaults, including attempted assaults, incitement and assisting other prisoners in an assault.
21989–90 and 1990–91 figures are partly estimated.
It should be noted that these statistics relate to cases where disciplinary punishments were imposed. They may, therefore, not be wholly representative of the underlying changes in assaults.