(2) how many and what punishments have been issued by the Governor of Feltham A and B young offender institution to inmates involved in violence within the institution in the last six months.
Central NOMS data do not use the term ‘incidents of violence’; information is recorded under the term assaults. The following tables show incidents of prisoner on prisoner assaults in Feltham A and Feltham B in the last 12 months.
The information is set out in the tables and is subject to important qualifications. The NOMS incident reporting system processes high volumes of data which are constantly being updated. The numbers provide an indication of overall numbers but should not be interpreted as absolute.
Assault data are complex and the numbers need to be interpreted with caution. Information recorded as assault incidents may involve one or many prisoners as some assault incidents may involve more than one assailant or more than one victim.
The numbers supplied refer to the number of individual assault incidents. The numbers refer to all incidents recorded as assaults; these may also include threatening behaviour, projection of bodily fluids and other non-contact events and allegations.
Ministers, NOMS and the Prison Officers’ Association are collectively committed to ensuring that violence in prisons is not tolerated in any form. Since 2004, a national strategy has directed every public sector prison to have in place a local violence reduction strategy and since mid 2007 this has been applied to the public and contracted out estate. A whole prison approach is encouraged, engaging all staff, all disciplines and prisoners in challenging unacceptable behaviour, problem-solving and personal safety.
Number 2007 December 23 2008 January 28 February 25 March 27 April 33 May 36 June 31 July 28 August 25 September 34 October 25 November 35 Note: Feltham A holds young people
Number 2007 December 12 2008 January 11 February 13 March 11 April 15 May 16 June 10 July 10 August 24 September 26 October 29 November 22 Note: Feltham B holds young adults
The average population at HMYOI Feltham during this period was 609. Age is a known risk factor and younger prisoners are more likely to be involved in assaults than older prisoners. As regrettable as each assault incident is, the numbers are within the expected range.
Data on proven adjudications and the punishments imposed at each prison are not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Adjudication awards are determined at a local level and therefore those awarded at HMYOI Feltham are not comparable to those awarded at other establishments. Data on punishments imposed at adjudications across the estate are published annually in chapter 9 of the Offender Management Caseload Statistics, available on the Ministry of Justice website at
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/omcs2007.pdf.