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| Three new prisons get 'of concern' rating | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The performance of the three prisons in England and Wales that opened under the coalition government is "of concern", according to the Ministry of Justice. | The performance of the three prisons in England and Wales that opened under the coalition government is "of concern", according to the Ministry of Justice. |
| Its annual ratings show Oakwood in the West Midlands and Thameside and Isis, both in south London, have all been graded in the third lowest category. | Its annual ratings show Oakwood in the West Midlands and Thameside and Isis, both in south London, have all been graded in the third lowest category. |
| They are among 28 jails - out of 126 - rated as "of concern" to officials. | They are among 28 jails - out of 126 - rated as "of concern" to officials. |
| Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said prisons "are still running safe and decent regimes". | Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said prisons "are still running safe and decent regimes". |
| Oakwood and Thameside both opened in spring 2012 and are privately operated. | |
| Isis, a publicly-run jail for adults and young offenders in south London, opened in July 2010. | Isis, a publicly-run jail for adults and young offenders in south London, opened in July 2010. |
| The Prison Rating System (PRS) rates performance in four categories: public protection, reducing reoffending, decency and resource management and operational effectiveness. | |
| Overall performance is graded into one of four bands. | |
| These bands are - 4: exceptional performance, 3: meeting majority of targets, 2: overall performance is of concern, and 1: overall performance is of serious concern. | |
| Only one jail, Brinsford Young Offenders Institution in Wolverhampton, is ranked in the lowest category. | |
| Separate figures show the number of assaults by prisoners on staff in jails in England and Wales has risen to its highest level for seven years, with almost 10 incidents every day. | |
| There were also a record number of serious assaults - involving inmates and by prisoners on staff. | |
| In the 12 months to the end of March 2014, there were 3,363 incidents in which prisoners attacked staff - up from 2,964 the year before. | |
| There were 370 incidents involving serious assaults on staff, an increase of 101. The overall number of serious assaults was 1,699. | |
| Both figures for serious assaults are unsurpassed, according to Ministry of Justice data, which dates back to 2005. | |
| The justice secretary said: "The increase in assaults is of concern. I do not tolerate violence of any kind in prison and every assault is treated extremely seriously. | |
| "We have always had a complex and challenging prison population but we are now managing a more violent population - and we are taking steps to manage the increased levels of violence." | |
| Other statistics found 225 inmates escaped or absconded from prisons in England and Wales in the last year. | |
| This is an increase of 21 compared with the previous year and included 137 from open prisons. | |
| Tighter criteria | |
| It is still the third lowest number of abscondments since records were kept - and is down by more than 1,000 on the figure a decade ago. | |
| Recent incidents include the case of Michael Wheatley, 55, known as the "Skull Cracker" who was jailed for life for carrying out an armed robbery while being on the run in May from an open prison in Kent. | |
| Mr Grayling said: "Open prisons remain a key part of our prison estate - being able to prepare long-term offenders before they are released is crucial. | |
| "But it is important that the public are confident in the security of the open estate, which is why I ordered an immediate and a robust review and as a result have tightened the eligibility criteria. | |
| "Absconds have seen a slight increase this year but are still more than 80% lower than they were a decade ago, and temporary release failures remain below 1%." |