Britain's prison crisis caused by "poor political decisions" by Conservatives and huge cuts, former head of jails says

“Poor political decisions” by the Conservatives and huge budget cuts have caused the crisis in Britain’s jails, the former head of the prison service has said.

Phil Wheatley accused the justice secretary, David Gauke, of attempting to shift blame for violence and disorder in British prisons from his own government to the spread of former legal highs among prisoners.

In comments seen exclusively by The Independent ahead of publication in the annual Prisons Handbook, Mr Wheatley said the coalition government inherited a prison service that was “performing better than it had ever done” in 2010.

The civil servant, who served as director-general of HM Prison Service and its successor, the National Offender Management Service, from 2003 to 2010, said austerity saw the Ministry of Justice’s budget promptly slashed by almost a quarter and the situation worsened by different policies under six justice secretaries.

“Mr Gauke and … Rory Stewart however appear intent on blaming the crisis they have inherited on new psychoactive substances (NPS), rather than budget cuts, poor political decisions and frequent changes of political direction,” he added.

“It is simply not acceptable in a comparatively rich democratic country to run unsafe prisons that do not provide decent conditions.”

Assaults between prisoners have doubled since 2010 and attacks on staff have tripled. Suicides peaked at 122 deaths in 2016 and fell to 70 last year, but the most recent official statistics showed self-harm incidents at a record high of almost 12,000 in just three months.

Poor conditions in some jails have been linked to devastating and costly riots, while inmates are managing to smuggle in illegal drugs and banned mobile phones.

Reoffending rates have also increased under the Conservatives’ tenure and the government was heavily criticised for putting the public at risk and increasing the number of convicts recalled to jail by part-privatising the probation service.

Mr Wheatley said the existence of a nationwide prisons crisis unleashed by the failures was “undeniable”, with the staggering rise in violence starting in 2013.

“As staff numbers and experience declined, so the incidence of violence, self-harm and suicide started to rise,” he added.

When the coalition government was elected, there were more than 19,900 prison officers, but the number had fallen to 14,900 within four years.

The number has since increased and the Ministry of Justice announced it had passed its target to recruit an additional 2,500 prison officers seven months ahead of schedule on Sunday.

Mr Gauke pledged that the recruitment drive would not slow amid efforts to crack down on gang lords running crime networks from behind bars.

“This will make a real difference to the safety and security of our prisons, ensuring they can fulfil their purpose – protecting the public, reducing reoffending and crucially, rehabilitating offenders,” he added.

But the Prison Officers’ Association accused the government of misleading the public, saying the 3,111 new recruits would not bring staffing back to its former level.

Chair Mark Fairhurst said: “We have lost in excess of 7,000 frontline staff since 2010 and it is vital that this figure is replaced.“

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