UK: prisons in crisis due to ‘perverse’ government overhaul

The president of the Prison Governors Association (PGA) has said prisons in England and Wales are in crisis due to a “perverse” government overhaul and a “toxic mix” of pressures.

In an open letter published as riot officers were called to a prison for a second day, Andrea Albutt launched a scathing attack on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), saying the PGA had been left “devastated at the complete decline of our service” and that the recent increase in indiscipline among prisoners was of grave concern.

The government has said it has taken immediate action to increase prison officer numbers, while creating a body to drive through its set of changes.

However, Albutt said governors had told her that they had seen nothing tangible come from the MoJ to ease the burden on prisons, leaving governors facing “unacceptable stress and anxiety”.

“We know many prisons are in crisis and I deliberately use that term, because it can’t be dressed up in any other way,” she said.

The governor warned that an unforeseen rise in prisoners had left the estate with “virtually no headroom” in spaces, while seasonal pressures were adding strain to limited staffing levels.

Data released last week by the MoJ showed there were 26,643 assaults in prisons in the year to March, including a record 7,159 attacks on staff, equating to 20 a day.

Specialist teams were called into HMP The Mount in Hertfordshire, which has struggled with severe staff shortages, two days in a row after prisoners reportedly seized control of part of a wing, while there was an incident at HMP Erlestoke in Wiltshire involving prisoners.

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