MPs accuse ministers of lacking leadership over 'appalling' state of prison system
2 min read
Ministers have let the prison system fall into an "appalling" state due to a lack of leadership, an influential group of MPs has said.
A damning new report from the Commons justice committee found prisons were in an "enduring crisis of safety and decency" as levels of violence and self-harm hit record highs.
In August, Boris Johnson pledged £2.5bn to help create a further 10,000 prison place by 2025 in a bid to "reverse the balance of fear" by "coming down hard" on criminals.
But MPs on the cross-party committee accused the Prime Minister of developing "policy by press release" which lacked a clear plan for how his Government would reform prisons.
It comes as Ministry of Justice figures show prison staff suffered 10,311 assaults in the year from March 2018, a rise of 15%, while prisoner-on-prisoner attacks rose 10% to 24,541.
"We are concerned about the condition of prisons, particularly a backlog of maintenance work currently estimated at £900 million, beyond routine day-to-day maintenance," the report said.
"Current arrangements for facilities management do not work, and we call for greater autonomy for governors to authorise and action some types of maintenance: initiatives, such as Q-Branch at HMP Leeds, where a team of staff and prisoners carries out minor maintenance work around the prison."
The report also recommended greater investment in "purposeful activity" to reduce the estimated £18bn cost from reoffending and a further push towards giving cleaning and maintenance contracts to local firms rather than national companies.
Committee chair Bob Neill said: "Too often we have seen what might be called 'policy by press notice' without any clear or coherent vision for the future of the prison system.
"New prison places might be welcome, but they do nothing to improve the appalling condition of much of the current prison estate, nor the prospect of offering a safe environment in which to rehabilitate offenders.
"Prisons will not become less violent without proper investment in purposeful activity for prisoners to support rehabilitation."
He added: "At any given rate, given the Government's poor track record in building prisons, we now want to see the detailed plans for the promises of £2.5bn for 10,000 more places, what they'll look like and when they'll be up and running."
The Ministry of Justice has been approached for comment.
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