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Charlie Taylor’s warning came after Justice Minister Damian Hinds announced this week in Parliament that 400 police cells would be used temporarily to hold prisoners due to a “acute and sudden” increase in the prison population. Mr Taylor told Times Radio that several prisons, including Sheppey and Woodhill, were struggling to recruit and retain staff. “The prison system is taking an inordinately long time to recover from Covid, where prisons were almost entirely locked down for long periods of time, but since then, very few prisons have returned to the regime they had prior to the pandemic,” he said. He also stated that some prisons were hesitant to resume normal operations due to inexperienced staff who were unable to cope with more open regimes. Mr Taylor stated that one of the remaining prisons was Winchester in Hampshire, where most inmates were locked in their 12ft by 6ft cells for 23 hours or 23-and-a-quarter hours per day. “This is a Victorian local prison, the conditions are not good, cells are designed for one person but most have two prisoners in them,” he explained. Mr Taylor stated that, in addition to living conditions, rehabilitation and education classes were not being run at pre-pandemic levels, which he feared would lead to increased reoffending, particularly in category C prisons. “You cannot rehabilitate someone if they are banged up behind their cell door for 22 and 23 hours a day,” he explained. Prisoners are bored and sitting on their wings, believing they are making no progress toward the end of their sentence. “If people are not properly prepared to get work when they come out, or to go into education or training, the risk is that they will relapse into offending, and if prisons are unable to fulfil that rehabilitative function, it must be a risk that becomes more likely.” Lord Ken Macdonald, a former director of public prosecutions, dismissed Mr Hinds’ claim in the Commons that the increase in prisoners was caused in part by the recent barristers’ strike. He claimed that the case backlog, which was causing more prisoners to be held on remand, had been growing prior to the strike. Lord Macdonald stated that more emphasis should be placed on rehabilitation in order to prevent recidivism. “Rather than staying on this treadmill of offence-prison, reoffence-prison,” he said, “we need to find a solution that brings a greater number of people out of the system who are likely to reoffend.” If you simply lock people up for 23 hours a day, month after month, year after year, they will not be fit for anything constructive when they are released. Finally, that is unfair to the public, whose tax dollars pay for all of this in the first place.”
Due To A Shortage Of Prison Officers, Some Inmates Are Spending More Than 23 Hours A Day In Their Cells, Raising The Risk Of Reoffending Once They Are Released, According To HM Chief Inspector Of Prisons
Due To A Shortage Of Prison Officers, Some Inmates Are Spending More Than 23 Hours A Day In Their Cells, Raising The Risk Of Reoffending Once They Are Released, According To HM Chief Inspector Of Prisons
Due To A Shortage Of Prison Officers, Some Inmates Are Spending More Than 23 Hours A Day In Their Cells, Raising The Risk Of Reoffending Once They Are Released, According To HM Chief Inspector Of Prisons
Due To A Shortage Of Prison Officers, Some Inmates Are Spending More Than 23 Hours A Day In Their Cells, Raising The Risk Of Reoffending Once They Are Released, According To HM Chief Inspector Of Prisons
Due To A Shortage Of Prison Officers, Some Inmates Are Spending More Than 23 Hours A Day In Their Cells, Raising The Risk Of Reoffending Once They Are Released, According To HM Chief Inspector Of Prisons
Due To A Shortage Of Prison Officers, Some Inmates Are Spending More Than 23 Hours A Day In Their Cells, Raising The Risk Of Reoffending Once They Are Released, According To HM Chief Inspector Of Prisons
