PRT Comment: Self-harm and assaults reach another record level

Commenting on the Ministry of Justice’s safety in custody statistics published today, Mark Day, head of policy and communications at the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“Despite a small but welcome fall in deaths, every other indicator points to the ongoing and longstanding deterioration in standards of safety in our overstretched prisons. Record levels of self-harm and assaults highlight mounting levels of frustration and despair among prisoners. Too many prisoners are held in overcrowded and impoverished conditions with too few staff to provide a safe and constructive regime. With prison numbers projected to increase, declining levels of safety will be very difficult to turn around without a concerted effort by ministers to take the pressure off the system by reducing prison numbers.”