The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
‘Appalling’ squalor at jail
Justice: Government in drastic move to take over crisis-hit prison from G4S
The prisons watchdog in England has accused the Ministry of Justice of failing to stop one of the country’s largest prisons slipping into crisis.
Peter Clarke suggested “somebody must have been asleep at the wheel” for conditions at HMP Birmingham to deteriorate so drastically.
Mr Clarke, the chief inspector of prisons, lamented “institutional inertia” as he published a devastating assessment of the jail.
His report said staff were found asleep or locked in offices during an inspection that uncovered “appalling” squalor and violence.
Some inmates were so frightened they reported feeling unsafe behind locked cell doors – while violent prisoners could act with “near impunity”.
Many staff felt fearful and unsafe after a number of incidents, including an arson attack that destroyed nine vehicles in a car park.
Mr Clarke’s inspection team found blatant use of illegal substances went largely unchallenged amid a “looming lack of control”.
At one point, staff were said to have shrugged when inspectors pointed out that drugs were being smoked.
As Mr Clarke’s findings were revealed, the MoJ confirmed it had taken control of the privately run jail after ministers concluded “drastic action” was required. The chief inspector said: “How is it that in 18 months a prison which is supposedly being run under the auspices of a tightly managed contract, how has that been allowed to deteriorate?
“There are Ministry of Justice officials on site permanently, and yet somehow there seems to have been some sort of institutional inertia that has allowed this prison to deteriorate to this completely unacceptable state.”
Asked whether the MoJ had failed, Mr Clarke said: “I think that’s the only reasonable conclusion you can come to.”
He added: “It cannot be the case that the only time urgent action is taken to restore decency in a prison is when an inspection report is published. Surely somebody must have been asleep at the wheel?”
From yesterday HM Prison and Probation Service took over the running of the jail from G4S for an initial six-month period.
Following the highly unusual intervention, an HMPPS governor has taken charge, an initial 30 extra officers are to be deployed, and the jail’s capacity is being reduced by 300 places.
The government, which has stressed there will be no additional cost to the taxpayer, said the action was taken following an “extended period” of working with G4S in an attempt to drive up standards at the jail.
Multiple “improvement notices” have been issued this year, said the MoJ. It said steps had been taken to reduce the capacity, rebalance the population and provide more funding for body-worn cameras, drug detection equipment and netting.
Acknowledging that it was a “shocking” situation, Prisons Minister Rory Stewart said: “This is partly the responsibility of me as the prisons minister, of the government and also of G4S, which is why we’ve taken the step of moving in, bringing in our own management team and reducing the prisoners.”
He said the takeover announced yesterday followed negotiations with G4S through last week.
Mr Stewart added: “That comes on the end of an enormous amount of work that we’ve done over the last few months.”
Downing Street backed G4S to run prisons despite the problems in Birmingham, citing its work at other facilities including HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire.