Four serious fights a week in prisons

On average there were nearly four serious fights a week at HMPs Birmingham, Brinsford, Drake Hall, Featherstone, Stafford, Swinfen Hall and Oakwood, up from about two a week in 2013.

At those seven prisons there were 182 serious fights in 2015 – a leap from 103 in 2013. While at HMP Oakwood, near Wolverhampton, there were 29 occasions of prisoners violently attacking fellow inmates, a jump from 18 in 2013 and 19 in 2014.

South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson, whose constituency includes HMPs Brinsford, Featherstone and Oakwood, said: "I know all the South Staffordshire prisons take self harm and the attacks very seriously.

"Obviously it is concerning to see these figures the way they are. They are trying to take a different way of tackling it.

"I don't think there is an easy way of doing it but it is about the facilities are good and proper and actually what you need to do is how we can provide opportunities to work in prisons and keep them occupied.

"Just in the last week I have been around HMP Oakwood and I spent a lot of the time talking to inmates about what they are doing within the regime and how they are trying to deal with health issues and their dissatisfaction in the prison.

"I think all the prisons are making really positive leaps forward."

And self-harming at a Staffordshire prison increased three-fold in just three years, the government figures show.

At HMP Stafford in 2013 there were just 16 instances of prisoners self-harming but last year that had jumped to 74, an increase of over 300 per cent.

Self-harming incidents recorded at HMP Brinsford and HMP Featherstone also increased from 2015.

But Stafford's was the only prison in the area not to show an increase in serious prisoner-on-prisoner violence.

There was only one recorded assault there in 2015, a decrease from 10 in 2014 and two in 2013.

Stafford's MP Jeremy Lefroy said: "I am pleased that the figures show that the instances of serious fights and prisoner on prisoner violence at Stafford prison have reduced.

"However, I am concerned that self-harming instances have increased and I will be seeking assurances that measures are being taken to address this."

At HMP Featherstone in 2015 there were 23 violent fights, which could have involved attacks on prison guards, a jump from 16 in 2014 and nine in 2013.

And at HMP Brinsford, there were 28 recorded in 2015, four at HMP Drake Hall, in Eccleshall, 38 at HMP Oakwood and 25 at HMP Swinfen Hall, near Lichfield.

Ministry of Justice statistics also showed a 30 per cent increase of deaths at English and Welsh prisons last year in comparison to the same time a year before.

Despite those figures, deaths recorded in prisons across the regions's prisons remained relatively stable last year.

One person died at HMP Brinsford, another at HMP Stafford and one at HMP Swinfen Hall during 2015.

Four died at HMP in Birmingham in 2015 – the same figure in 2013 and 2014. There were eight deaths at Midlands prisons in 2013 and 10 in 2014.

The director of campaigns for at the Howard League for Penal Reform Andrew Neilson said: "Once again, official figures spell out the urgent need for prison reform.

"Prisons are not only becoming more dangerous; they are becoming more dangerous more quickly.

"That more prisons have been awarded the worst-possible performance rating provides further indication of how the system is failing after years of rising numbers, chronic overcrowding and deep staff cuts.

"The high levels of violence and deaths should shame us all, and the new Secretary of State for Justice and her ministers must set out concrete plans to reduce them."

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "Our hard-working prison staff provide support to prisoners at risk of self-harm and suicide every day.

"All deaths in custody are fully investigated by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and subject to a Coroner's inquest."