Recommendation 20

HM Government Deferred

We accept this recommendation. Reducing violence in prisons is a priority for this Department, and we are continuing to take action to make prisons safer. Whilst the rates of assault fell considerably at the start of the pandemic and have risen since, they remain below pre-pandemic levels. Exiting the COVID-19 National Framework has allowed us to give prisoners more time out of their cells to engage with staff and to take part in purposeful activity. We will continue to focus on supporting and rehabilitating prisoners, as well as implementing key safety interventions effectively. As part of the £37 million investment in prison safety we will establish an innovations taskforce bringing together experts from across the sector to develop new ideas to address the drivers of violence and self-harm in prisons as well as conduct a major research study into the impact of debt on prison safety. We have improved how we identify and manage those who pose a raised risk of being violent through introducing the Challenge, Support, and Intervention Plan (CSIP). CSIP is the mandated case management model for managing violence across the adult estate including women’s prisons. It is focused on targeting and addressing the underlying causes of a prisoner’s violent behaviour by tailoring a support plan around their specific risk factors to reduce their risk of further violence. We have refreshed our safety training, and the new violence module will equip staff to understand how to mitigate the drivers of prison violence–including women-specific drivers–as well as teaching them the skills required to hold difficult conversations, de-escalate effectively and how to effectively support the use of CSIP within their establishments. Positive staff-prisoner relationships are key to reducing violence. We have a gender specific OMiC model to provide one-to-one support to sentenced women who are assessed as having the most need.