Prison system is in ‘an appalling crisis’ says report

THE PRISON system is in an “appalling state of crisis” and the Government has no clear plan for “desperately needed change”, MPs have warned.

Safety, security and decency are all lacking in jails across the country, according to a critical report from the Commons Justice Committee.

MPs today condemned the lack of a clear plan for reform and a long-term strategy to “reverse the fortunes” of the prison estate and called for detailed plans about how the Government will meet a series of pledges it has made to increase funding and the number of cells.

The report said: “Too often, prisons are identified as needing extra support, but their performance continues to decline.

“There is little point in identifying poor performance if the necessary resources are not then provided to drive improvement.”

Committee chairman Bob Neill added: “The prison system in England and Wales is enduring a crisis of safety and decency.

“Too often we have seen what might be called ‘policy by press notice’ without any clear or coherent vision for the future of the prison system.

“New prison places might be welcome, but they do nothing to improve the appalling condition of much of the current prison estate, nor the prospect of offering a safe environment in which to rehabilitate offenders.”

Amid estimations that reoffending costs £18bn, Mr Neill said that violence would not reduce in prisons without proper investment into rehabilitation and activities for inmates.

“At any rate, given Government’s poor track record in building prisons, we now want to see the detailed plans for the promised £2.5bn for 10,000 more places, what they’ll look like and when they’ll be up and running,” he added.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We know many prisons face challenges but we have been confronting those head-on by recruiting over 4,400 extra officers in the last three years.

“This Government is investing tens of millions in security and improving conditions, an extra £156m for maintenance, £100m to ramp up security and tackle drugs issues, and £2.5bn to create 10,000 additional prison places.”

The department fully recognises, he said, the “value of purposeful activity to reduce re-offending and cut crime”, citing its Education and Employment Strategy’s focus on rehabilitation.