Build fortified care homes to cater for aged, says jails chief
THE Government should build “care homes with walls” to house a growing number of elderly prisoners, the chief prisons inspector has said.
Speaking at the launch of his annual report, Peter Clarke said that he had raised the idea with ministers in response to a rise in the number of older prisoners who struggle to cope with standard prison facilities.
The number of over-70s in prison is predicted to increase from 1,400 in June last year to 1,900 in 2020.
The rise is partly down to an increase in convictions for historic sex offences, and partly due to longer sentences.
Of the 234 over-80s being held in prison, 204 were convicted of sex offences. Mr Clarke said: “When you see
‘Many of the elderly people can’t be held in open conditions because they could potentially pose a risk’
some very old and disabled people wheeling themselves around Victorian wings of some of our jails, you think: they are not designed for this.
“Many of these elderly people can’t be held in open conditions because they still could potentially pose a risk to the public.
“So is there some kind of custody facility that we need to think about which sits somewhere between a Category C prison and an open prison, where they can be held securely, in conditions which are more suited to their age?
“To put it simply: is there something that might look more like an old people’s home with a wall around it?”
Mr Clarke’s report was extremely critical of the prison system, which he described as “violent and dangerous”.
It said inspectors had found “filthy and dilapidated” facilities and some prisons had problems with rats and vermin.
In the 12 months to December 2016 assaults on staff rose by 38 per cent to 6,844 incidents.
Not a single one of the young offender institutions in England and Wales that he had inspected was safe, he added.
An MOJ spokesman acknowledged that the prison system had faced “longstanding challenges”.
He added: “That is why we have taken immediate action to boost prison officer numbers and put in place new measures to tackle drugs and mobile phones.”