Cameron pledges prison reforms to tackle ‘failure’
David Cameron is calling for reforms in prisons to combat high levels of violence, self-harm and re-offending.
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Six “reform prisons” will be created, with governors given more control over how they are run, and there will be greater emphasis on education for inmates.
In a speech described by Downing Street as the first focused exclusively on prisons by a British prime minister in more than two decades, Mr Cameron said that although punishment was “not a dirty word”, prisoners should not feel that society had given up on them.
He has accepted the recommendations of a review of prison education, due to be published soon, and promised to protect its £130m annual budget. There will also be a new scheme to encourage graduates to teach in prisons.
‘Great progressive cause’
The prime minister said penal reform should be the “great progressive cause in British politics”, but he also argued that in some cases there is no alternative to prison.
Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said prisons were “violent and overcrowded” and failed victims, the public, staff and inmates.
She added: “Prison reform, however, is the tip of the iceberg. Improved education and increased autonomy for governors will not work if there are people crammed into filthy institutions with no staff to open the cell doors.”
Mr Cameron said: “My starting point is this – we need prisons. Some people – including, of course, rapists, murderers, child abusers, gang leaders – belong in them. For me, punishment, that deprivation of liberty, is not a dirty word.
‘Compassionate country’
“But I also strongly believe that we must offer chances to change; that for those trying hard to turn themselves around, we should offer hope; that in a compassionate country, we should help those who’ve made mistakes to find their way back on to the right path.”
Prisoners should be viewed as “potential assets to be harnessed”, while “the failure of our system today is scandalous”.
In the speech in London, Mr Cameron highlighted figures showing 46 per cent of all prisoners re-offend within a year of release, rising to 60 per cent for those who serve short sentences.
He said levels of violence, drug taking and self-harm “should shame us all”, with a typical week seeing 600 incidents of self-harm, at least one suicide and 350 assaults, including 90 on staff.