Committee calls for urgent prison repairs

• Government Response: Prison Governance
• Justice Committee

But, with prisons currently full to near overflow, concerns remain about how far governors can make their prisons safer and more secure without enough money for simple maintenance and falling numbers of prison officers and other staff.

Prisons in England and Wales are currently at 98% capacity with more than 83,000 people in jail.  The Government's planned 13,500 new places are not due to be fully available until 2023.

Rates of self-harm and suicide among prisoners have risen steadily in recent years. The Government has recruited over 4,500 new prison officers, but latest statistics show more are leaving the service than are joining it, stretching prison staffing.

Chair's comments

New Government policies on longer sentences and greater police recruitment are likely to put more pressure on the system, said Justice Committee Chair Sir Bob Neill MP, as his Committee published a Ministry of Justice response to its 2019 Report on Prison Governance.

“There is much to welcome in the Government's shift to enable local governors to run their prisons locally,” said Sir Bob, “but in practice there can be little point giving a governor the power to shift money around if the money simply isn't there.”

The Government has pledged £156m this year to begin reducing a £900m backlog in prison maintenance – including fire safety systems, boilers, electrical systems and refurbishment of cells, showers and cooking and eating areas.

“The Government themselves accept that this will deal with “some” of the problems raised by this growing backlog of repairs,” said Sir Bob. “With many prisons more than 100 years old and containing as many people as it is possible for them to hold in cells, we'd hope the Treasury will see the need for larger and more urgent action to put prison buildings into a basic state of repair.”

Among measures contained in the Government's response to the Committee's report:

• A commitment to install x-ray scanners in 27 prisons, including in some of the most challenging such as Durham, Winchester and Pentonville.
• Putting the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman on a proper statutory footing – which, the committee said, should make it easier for legitimate complaints to be heard;
• Improving governors' ability to provide local education and healthcare services within their prisons; and
• Spending £2.5bn on new prison places at Full Sutton, Wellingborough and Glen Parva.

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

Image: MoJ