HMP Liverpool: Chair of Justice Committee reacts to report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons

Commenting on the report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on an unannounced inspection of HMP Liverpool, the Chair of the Justice Committee, Bob Neill MP, said:

“This Inspectorate’s report is one of the worst I have ever seen. A situation as bad as this raises urgent questions for the prison’s leadership, regional and national management and for the Government who seem to have collectively failed in their duty. If the new Urgent Notification Protocol between the Chief Inspector and the Minister was in place, would we have seen a quicker and more robust response? I need convincing that the change projects underway at the prison will resolve the extensive range of basic and obvious shortcomings and I am sceptical about whether the Ministry’s plans to empower prison governors will prevent such failings in future.

“The Justice Committee will be holding an evidence session on this matter next week, to consider how the Government and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service have responded to what the Chief Inspector has called ‘the abject failure of HMP Liverpool to offer a safe, decent and purposeful environment’”.