Covid-19
- One in five (20%) of all confirmed Covid-19 cases among prisoners in England and Wales had been reported at Welsh prisons as of 19 June 2020. This is despite the fact that Welsh prisons held only 6% of the prison population of England and Wales at the end of June 2020.
Ethnicity
- Black people in Wales were almost six times overrepresented in prisons in 2019. Asian prisoners were 1.9 times overrepresented and individuals from Mixed ethnic groups were 2.7 times overrepresented.
- Welsh individuals from a White ethnic background (0.9) were the only group to be underrepresented in prison in 2019. Although a similar trend can be seen in England, the level of overrepresentation for each of these groups is higher in Wales.
Finds in prisons
- The number of alcohol finds in Welsh prisons (excluding HMP Berwyn) increased by 57% in the year ending March 2020. In the same period, alcohol finds at HMP Berwyn rose by 225% at a time when its population increased by 31%.
- In the year ending March 2020, there was a 33% rise in the number of weapons found across the Welsh prison estate (excluding HMP Berwyn).
- HMP Berwyn had the highest number of weapon finds in Wales per 100 prisoners in the year ending March 2020, with 18.
- HMP Parc recorded the second highest rate, with 12 per 100, followed by HMP Cardiff and Swansea both with six per 100.
Assaults
- At HMP Berwyn, when its population had increased by 18%, the number of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults rose by 143% in 2019.
- The rate of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults was highest at HMP Berwyn in 2019 with 39 incidents per 100 prisoners. The second highest level was recorded at HMP Parc (35 per 100) followed by HMP Cardiff (24 per 100), HMP Swansea (20 per 100) and HMP Usk and Prescoed (three per 100).
