Overcrowding saw the prison system come close to collapse on three separate occasions, according to a new review by former chief inspector of prisons Dame Ann Owers.
At one point there were fewer than 100 spaces available in adult male prisons, says the Independent review of prison capacity.
‘From 2023 onwards, prisons were running very close to the edge of capacity,’ the document states. ‘On three occasions, this was only pulled back at the last minute’ – by the use of early release schemes and powers to allow release on compassionate grounds. Senior officials were so concerned about a ‘potential breakdown in the criminal justice system’ that an audit was kept of all decision-making and documents in case there was a public or parliamentary inquiry, the review adds. The system then ‘limped through the summer of 2024, helped by the knowledge that relief was coming’ in the shape of the new government’s pledge to reduce the custodial element of most standard determinate sentences to 40 per cent.
The system was once again ‘in sight of another capacity crisis’ when the new government commissioned its independent review of sentencing by former justice secretary David Gauke, it continues. Gauke’s review then recommended a shift away from sentences of less than 12 months, saying they should only be used in ‘exceptional circumstances’ (https://www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/gauke-review-signals-shift-away-from-short-prison-sentences/).
Although particularly acute in the last few years, the country’s prison capacity crisis is a symptom of a ‘systemic and long-running problem’, the document says – ‘the apparently irresistible pressure for more and longer prison sentences coming up against the immovable object of the difficulty, expense and overall effectiveness of building and running more prisons.’ From time to time that pressure ‘erupts into a crisis that requires executive action – sometimes unnoticed and sometimes public’, it adds.
The 2022-24 capacity crisis, however, was ‘probably the deepest and longest’ and was ‘described by many of those who lived through it as an 18-month “permacrisis”’ – affecting the prison service at every level as well as much of the wider the criminal justice system. It is also ‘far from over’, the review adds. Among the document’s recommendations are a ten-year strategy for developing capacity within probation and community services, as well as the establishment of an independent advisory body to provide ‘advice and external validation’.
The crisis is also seriously hampering prisons’ ability to ‘operate safe, positive and purposeful environments’ that help to reduce the likelihood of reoffending, the review warns. In surveys carried out last year two thirds of prisoners said they had little to occupy them and were spending most of their time in their cells, with the link between inactivity and the availability and use of drugs frequently raised by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, prison governors, independent monitoring boards and others. ‘While too many prisoners may be inactive, the organised crime groups that look for (literally) captive markets for their illicit drugs are, conversely, extremely active,’ the review states. ‘In one local prison visited, the prevalence of spice and opioids meant frequent emergency calls (code blues) to healthcare staff,’ who had had to administer naloxone to 50 men in a single week. Widespread availability of drugs also inevitably leads to accumulation of debts and consequent violence, the report warns.
A damning report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons last month stated that drugs were now undermining every aspect of prison life – with assaults on staff rising by 13 per cent in the space of a year – and called on the government to ‘take far more seriously the widespread ingress of illegal drugs into prisons’ (https://www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/drugs-undermining-every-aspect-of-prison-life-say-inspectors/). A separate report earlier this year from the Prison Reform Trust revealed that less than half of people leaving prison in 2023-24 had settled accommodation on their release, with 13 per cent finding themselves either homeless or sleeping rough (https://www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/less-than-half-of-prison-leavers-have-settled-accommodation/).
‘This welcome report from Dame Anne Owers doesn’t pull any punches,’ said Prison Reform Trust chief executive Pia Sinha. ‘It lays bare the systemic failures behind repeated prison capacity crises, with devastating consequences for victims, prisoners, staff, and the wider justice system. It highlights the urgent need to shift from reactive crisis management to long-term, strategic planning that prioritises rehabilitation and effective community-based alternatives. Yet even if these measures succeed, prisons will remain under severe pressure in the short term as the population continues to rise. Repairing the damage of recent decades will require sustained focus, investment, and political will to rebuild prison and probation services so they can operate safely and effectively.’
Independent prison capacity review: final report at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-prison-capacity-review-final-report