The Prison Service will conduct a snap review into whether protective body armour should be made available to front-line staff, the justice secretary has said.
Shabana Mahmood's announcement comes after Manchester Arena bomber Hashem Abedi threw hot oil at prison officers and stabbed them with makeshift weapons at HMP Frankland on Saturday.
In a statement, Mahmood also said that alongside an independent Ministry of Justice review into the attack, she would now be auditing the implementation of previous review recommendations into extremism in UK prisons.
On Wednesday the Prison Officers' Association (POA) union called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to strengthen security for its members.
The union's general secretary Steve Gillan said he was writing to the prime minister about the issue, which would include the supply of stab-proof vests for staff.
A prison officer at HMP Frankland, in County Durham, also called for stab vests to be made available, warning staff could die unless security measures are urgently changed across all UK prisons.
