Parc has highest rate of self-harm among its prisoners

THERE were record levels of self-harm, assaults on staff and disturbances at Welsh prisons last year.

Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre has analysed data from across prisons in Wales.

The report found prisons in Wales were performing less well than prisons in England on a range of safety measures with the number of recorded self-harm incidents and prison assaults in Wales increasing at a higher rate than prisons in England since 2010.

On average, a prisoner in Wales takes their own life every four months.

Between 2010 and 2017, there were 24 self-inflicted deaths in Welsh prisons with HMP Parc recording the highest rate (91 incidents per 100 prisoners) of selfharm in Wales.

In 2017, there were 2,132 self-harm incidents in prisons in Wales. This figure equates to five separate incidents of selfharm taking place in Welsh prisons every day

The number of recorded self-harm incidents in Welsh prisons increased during 2017 by 16%, compared to a 10% increase across England.

The report said the large increase in self-harm cannot be put down solely to an increase in the prison population.

While the number of prisoners held in Wales has risen by 23% from 2010 to 2017, the level of recorded self-harm incidents in Wales increased by 358% during the same period.

As well as an increase in self-harm, there has also been a Wales wide increase in assaults on prison staff.

Assaults reached its highest level in 2017, with more than one assault a day on prison staff in Wales.

The total number of assaults on prison staff in Wales was five times greater in 2017 than in 2010.

Incidents in England increased at a lower rate with assaults on staff almost three times higher over the same period.

Again HMP Parc topped the list with 15 incidents per 100 prisoners in 2017.

The report’s author, Dr Robert Jones of the Wales Governance Centre, claims there is not enough transparency in how information in Welsh prisons is recorded.

He said: “The aim of this report is to make Wales-only imprisonment data accessible to a wide audience for the first time.

“With a particular focus upon prison safety, it provides the most up-to-date information on a range of challenges facing prisons in Wales and also Welsh prisoners being held in England.

“Above all, imprisonment in Wales offers a statistical overview of the prisons system at a time when both Welsh and UK governments are working to improve justice policy in the country.

“This comprehensive overview could only be generated at considerable effort, including through using the Freedom of Information Act.

“More regular and transparent Welsh data will be required if the public and politicians are to be able to better scrutinise how well the system is working.”

Despite an increase in prison capacity in Wales, 39% of all Welsh prisoners were being held in English prisons in 2017.

In a large number of cases, Welsh prisoners are placed in establishments far away from home; Welsh prisoners were held in 108 different prisons in 2017.

The number of Welsh women handed immediate custodial sentences has also increased by almost a fifth since 2011.

Commenting on the report, a Welsh Government spokesman said: “The Commission on Justice in Wales, which was set up by the Welsh Government late last year, is considering the future of prisons in Wales along with a wide range of other matters relating to justice and the legal system. The commission is scheduled to report on its findings and recommendations during the course of 2019.”

Plaid Cymru’s Home Affairs spokeswoman Liz Saville Roberts MP said: “It is no secret that the prison service is in a state of emergency, with overcrowding, severe staff shortages and appalling conditions.

“We have almost 4,000 fewer prison officers than we had in 2010, and two in five prisons are now deemed to be ‘unacceptably unsafe.’”