Prison regimes facing significant challenges:

The publication of this week's annual report from the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, lays bare the scale of the challenge currently facing our prison system. Prisons are overcrowded and understaffed, significantly curtailing rehabilitative activity and the provision of essential support.

Access to purposeful activity remains limited with 28 out of the 38 adult prisons inspected rated as ‘poor’ or ‘not sufficiently good.’ This has been driven by a lack of time out of cell, ‘particularly in reception prisons where 54% reported having under two hours out of their cells each weekday.’

The report details how overcrowding has resulted in a lack of space for every person in prison to take part in work or education. Additionally, we learned that ‘even where there were sufficient spaces, inspectors still came across underused workshops and classrooms. Levels of attendance were often below 70% and many workshops were not operating because of staff shortages.’ Staff shortages have also impacted on the provision of vital mental health support, with the report detailing how ‘staffing difficulties at some jails meant there was a dependence on additional agency or locum personnel to deliver critical mental health services.’

The situation for women is particularly stark. Through inspections at two women’s prisons – HMP Styal and HMP Drake Hall – it was found that the rates of self-harm in women’s prisons is now over 8.5 times higher than in men’s prison. Since the last inspection of HMP Styal, there had been four self-inflicted deaths. The ‘Time to care’ thematic review explore these themes in detail and found that a lack of basic care and support often led women to self-harm.

Prominent among the findings of inspectors was the alarming ease of access to illicit drugs in prisons, which has been linked to increasing levels of violence – with assaults on staff increasing by 13%, while those between people in prison have risen by 10%. Through in-prison surveys, 39% of respondents told inspectors that ‘it was easy to get illicit drugs.’ At HMP Hindley, the rate of positive random drugs tests in the six months before inspectors visited was at 59%.

Implementation of Sentencing Review recommendations:

These findings must be viewed within the context of the recently published final report of the Independent Sentencing Review.  The Lord Chancellor commissioned David Gauke to lead the review, with the ambition to reduce prison capacity pressures. The recommendations – including a significant reduction in short custodial sentences and an increased focus on community alternatives to custody – have the potential to do just that. Investment in the voluntary sector is an essential component of the Sentencing Review Package, as pursuing this recommendation would ensure that the greater numbers of people being supported in the community can access the support that they need.

It is important to note, though, that it will take time for the review’s recommendations to be worked up, implemented and then filtered into the system. Many of the Sentencing Review's recommendations will be given effect by the imminent Sentencing Bill. 

The ability of the Government to implement many of the review’s recommendations, such as expanded provision of Intensive Supervision Courts and sustainable funding for women’s centres, will rely on financial backing. Given the Ministry of Justice received a more generous than expected funding settlement at the recent Spending Review, there is cautious optimism that the laudable ambitions of the Sentencing Review can be made a reality. As Charlie Taylor’s report illustrates, the urgency of the steps needed to address the challenges in our prison and probation systems cannot be underestimated.