MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice
Secretary, responding to David Gauke's prison reform
announcements said:
"These measures fall way short of what is needed to tackle the
emergency in our prisons.
"Our prisons are facing an unprecedented wave of violence due to
Conservative cuts to budgets and staffing levels. The
Government's claim that it is turning prisons into places of
reform and rehabilitation is empty rhetoric when violence,
understaffing and overcrowding mean that prisoners spend 23 hours
a day locked-up in their cells.
"The Government needs to go much further than these wholly
inadequate measures. It should launch an emergency action plan
with substantial new Treasury funds to make our prisons safe for
both staff and inmates."
Ends
Notes
- The number of prison officers is currently 21,608 (June
2018) down from 24,830 in March 2010.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-june-2018
- Prisons have lost up to 70,000 years of officer experience
over the past decade.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/28/loss-experienced-staff-leaves-prisons-unsafe
- There were 31,025 assault incidents in the 12 months to
March 2018, up 16% from the previous year. There were 9,003
assaults on staff in the 12 months to March 2018, up 26% from
the previous year.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/729496/safety-in-custody-bulletin-2018-Q1.pdf
- Latest prison population figures show that the number of
prison places is 74,837 and the number of prisoners
is 82,839. Seventy of the 117 prisons (60%) are
overcrowded.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/740736/prison-pop-august-2018.ods
- The Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke said
in his annual report: "It is noticeable that the huge increase
in violence across the prison estate has really only taken
place in the past five years, at the time when large reductions
in staff numbers were taking effect."
https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections/annual-report-2017-18/
- The Prison Officers Association recently set out
its demands to improve prison safety.
http://www.poauk.org.uk/index.php?press-releasesnewsdetail=20180914-10_poa-general-secretary-calls-for-protest-action andhttp://www.poauk.org.uk/download.php?f=c93f64564191429e4f65e87110468206&target=0
- The Institute for Government states: "Spending on prisons
fell by more than a fifth between 2009/10 and 2016/17. In
2009/10, day-to-day spending on prisons totalled £3.48bn. This
fell by 22% to £2.71bn in 2016/17. Falling prisons spending
reflects sustained reductions to the overall MoJ budget since
2009/10."
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/performance-tracker-autumn-2017/law-and-order/prisons
