Undermining every aspect of prison life

The supply and use of illicit drugs are the overriding themes of his report, undermining every aspect of prison life. Mr Taylor makes it plain that far too little was being done to keep drugs out of jails, too many prisoners said it was easy to get hold of them, and the rate of positive random tests frequently reached more than 30%. In the six months before the Inspectorate returned to one category C prison, a staggering 59% of randomly selected prisoners had tested positive for illicit drug use.

Most concerningly, drones were making regular deliveries to Manchester and Long Lartin which held some of the most dangerous men in the country, including terrorists and organised crime bosses. Physical security such as netting, windows and CCTV was inadequate and at Manchester, inexperienced staff were being manipulated or simply ignored by prisoners. The failure to tackle these security issues seriously compromised safety and represented a threat to national security.

A time of crisis

Mr Taylor’s comments come at a time of intense scrutiny of prisons. The government’s early release schemes have only temporarily alleviated the capacity crisis and longer-term change following the Sentencing Review will take time. High-profile attacks on staff have prompted calls for more protection, and problems with the conduct and capability of officers have raised questions about staff recruitment and experience. Against this backdrop, the ingress of illegal drugs has created huge pressure for those living and working in prisons. Mr Taylor said it was unsurprising, though deeply worrying, that violence had risen in step with this ingress. Nationally, assaults on staff were 13% higher than the previous year, while those between prisoners had risen by 10%.

Overcrowding, boredom & frustration

Overcrowding, coupled with a lack of activity, caused boredom and frustration among prisoners, which heightened the demand for drugs. Many spent most of the day in cramped, shared cells, where broken furniture and windows, and infestations of vermin, were common.

Of the 38 men’s and women’s prisons inspected in the last year, more than two thirds (28) were delivering poor or not sufficiently good outcomes in purposeful activity.

Concerningly six of those rated poor were category C training prisons, which should have been providing prisoners with the skills they needed to resettle successfully in the community. Education and work were not good enough in about three-quarters of men’s and women’s prisons, and many prisoners could not get onto the courses prescribed in their sentence plans.

In many jails there was too little interaction with staff, which added to prisoners’ frustration and contributed to poor behaviour. Prisoners often struggled to get busy or inexperienced officers to help them with simple requests, and women were particularly affected, with a lack of day-to-day support causing such distress that some resorted to self-harm.

Despite 56% of surveyed prisoners reporting that they had mental health problems, staffing difficulties at some jails meant prisoners often had to wait a long time to access the help they needed, and there were continued delays in transferring severely unwell patients to secure hospitals under the Mental Health Act.

Exceptions to the rule

It is heartening – if somewhat frustrating – to read that despite this, some prisons were managing to deliver impressive outcomes. Good leadership, where highly visible governors knew their prisons well, set and maintained standards and held staff to account, was critical to this success. Cardiff was one of only three reception prisons to receive a score of reasonably good for purposeful activity since before the pandemic, Humber had managed to bear down on the supply of illegal drugs, and Oakwood continued to be the best prison of its type in the country. Hatfield and Kirklevington Grange were successful open prisons, and Rye Hill had an excellent range of activities and a highly effective staff team. There had also been some progress at Five Wells following an earlier concerning inspection, and at Bristol, Woodhill and Bedford which had been subject previously to Urgent Notifications.

Only last week the Chief Inspector praised the regime at HMP Send finding “a strong focus on rehabilitating the women in its long-term care and excellent leadership driving  success.”

The striking feature of these beacons of success is that most of the prisons featured do not have more resources or more favourable working environments than the majority who are failing. 

There is no doubt that years of under-staffing combined with chronic overcrowding have plunged the prison system into chaos, yet we see many examples of Governors and staff often working with those in their care to deliver positive regimes.

We must hope that the Government is serious in its pledge to implement the recommendations in the Sentencing Review and that reductions in the population allow more prisons to follow the lead of these select few.

Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the header image in this post. You can see Andy’s work here.