United Kingdom: prisons shakeup to give governors more control over rehabilitation

Prison governors are to be held to account for getting offenders off drugs, into jobs and learning English and maths under new powers to be detailed in the justice secretary’s flagship legislation to tackle the prison crisis.

The prisons and courts bill, to be published on Thursday, will give governors control over their budgets for education, employment and health and introduce a new system of league tables and performance standards.

The legislation will also bolster external scrutiny of jails by giving new powers to the chief inspector of prisons, including making judgments about the quality of prison leadership.

The bill is being published at a time when self-inflicted deaths are at a record high, with 119 prisoners killing themselves in 2016, and an epidemic of violence and drugs sweeping the volatile system in England and Wales.

The legislation includes measures to cut off illegal mobile phones being used inside jails and add psychoactive substances – formerly known as legal highs – to existing compulsory drug-testing powers.

The justice secretary, Liz Truss, said the bill would enshrine into law that a key purpose of prisons was to reform and rehabilitate offenders.

The bill comes alongside measures to recruit a further 2,500 prison officers and 50 intelligence officers, tackle drones, and implement a “new for old” programme that will lead to the closure of older jails to fund the construction of modern prisons.

Truss said: “Prison is about punishing people who have committed heinous crimes, but it should be a place where offenders are given the opportunity to turn their lives around.

“I want our prisons to be places of discipline, hard work and self-improvement, where staff are empowered to get people off drugs, improve their English and maths get a job on release.”

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