Prison board ‘fearful’ about Wormwood Scrubs
One of the UK’s biggest prisons is getting “steadily worse”, the monitoring board chair tells Channel 4 News, with a 50 per cent increase in the use of force on inmates and a staff recruitment freeze.
The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said that staff were anxious and insecure because of a significant increase in incidents of violence between prisoners and on staff.
A report by the prison’s watchdog found that there has been close to a 50 per cent increase in the use of force and control and restraint measures on prisoners in the first half of this year: there are now an average of 13 incidents a day in the jail, which houses around 1,200 inmates.
It also found that mice are now nesting in kitchen equipment and gnawing through essential cables, giving rise to serious health hazards. Weekly attempts by a pest controller to kill the vermin are being thwarted by prisoners who steal the poison for other uses.
We are supposed to be the ministry of justice’s eyes and ears but I don’t know if they’re listening to us – Angela Low
The report blames the crisis inside the west London category B prison on serious staff shortages, which in one of the five wings was running at 20 per cent. It challenges Justice Secretary Chris Grayling to show how to run a safe and secure prison in the face of swingeing cuts.
IMB Chair Angela Low told Channel 4 News: “We’re very fearful. We are supposed to be the ministry of justice’s eyes and ears but I don’t know if they’re listening to us.”
Her main concern is that prisoners are kept in their cells for too long, because there are not enough staff to let them out and monitor them.
She said that this year was “much worse” than last year, “and it will get much worse again in October when all the changes and government cuts will come in”.
But while these findings are just about one prison, another report suggests the entire prison system is showing signs of strain in the face of cuts.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen writes in his annual report that there has been a marked increase in the number of prisoner complaints upheld- another sign, he points out, that more things are going wrong.
Michael Spurr, chief executive officer of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), said: “I am very conscious of the pressures staff face and we remain absolutely committed to tackling and reducing violence at Wormwood Scrubs and across the prison estate.
“Our more efficient national model for running safe and secure prisons is being introduced at Wormwood Scrubs next month. This will help maximise opportunities for rehabilitation, with more prisoners engaging in full-time work, while staff will be deployed efficiently so a positive regime is routinely and consistently delivered.”