Prisons struggling with “drugs, violence and inhumanity”
The UK’s jails are overcrowded and struggling to provide “humane containment” according to a new report from the Prison Reform Trust.
In an analysis of the Prison Service’s performance against its main targets, the report claims that the Service failed to meet seven of its 18 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Crucially, it has failed to meet the target of providing prisoners with 24 hours a week of “purposeful activity”- a target which is due to be scrapped.
The report also identifies a “significant” increase in prison drug usage and reports that the Prison Service is concerned that drug dealing in prisons is more “organised”.
Prisons are also categorised as more violent, with a rising number of serious assaults.
It does, however, recognise that the Prison Service has an “excellent” record in escapes and has made a “tremendous achievement” in basic skill provision.
More than 15 per cent of the adults who live in England and Wales who gained literacy and numeracy qualifications last year did so in prison.
The report warns that over crowding is at the root of many problems, arguing: “Squeezing prisoners into every available space has meant that too many people have been shipped around the prison estate, held long distances from their home towns, disrupting attempts at rehabilitation.”
Enver Solomon, who wrote the report, said: “This report demonstrates that overcrowded jails don’t work. They are unsafe, inhumane, and ineffective. Far too many prisoners are passively serving time when they should be actively paying back the damage they have caused to communities.”
His sentiments were echoed by the Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, who said: “There is small comfort in the Prison Service’s good record on preventing escapes if people leave our overcrowded jails more, not less, likely to offend again.”
The UK’s prison population stands at a record high of around 75,000. In 1994, the average population stood at 48,621.
