Overview

• All staff in Category A prisons will receive 5,000 individually fitted stab‑proof vests, with a further 5,000 allocated across the wider estate.
• Up to 500 Tasers will be issued to trained local response teams in prisons, expanding a July pilot that equipped 20 specialist officers.
• The package is funded at about £15 million and follows Ministry of Justice data showing 10,568 assaults on staff in the year to March, a 7% rise.
• Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has been appointed to examine the Frankland incident and recommend safety improvements.
• Hashem Abedi has been charged over the alleged April attack on officers at HMP Frankland and is due in court on September 25.