The chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, has warned that the availability of synthetic psychoactive drugs presents the most serious threat to the safety and security of jails.
In his first speech on prisons as justice secretary, Michael Gove will today promote education as a way of cutting reoffending rates. But there will be no mention of overcrowding.
Jails in England and Wales are found to be in “their worst state for a decade” with some prisons now merely places of “violence, squalor and idleness”.
Drugs, gangs and violence have brought virtual anarchy to an English jail, according to the latest report from the chief inspector of prisons.
The lessons are the same but what is lacking is the oversight and the stick to make sure history isn’t repeated. There should be no time limits on the state’s duty of care.
Week after week there seems to be yet another damning report on the state of this country’s prisons. Today it is the Serco privately run Doncaster Prison.
Damian Green, the policing minister, says that fewer prisoners are now absconding from open jails. In the light of the “skull cracker” case, is he right to make his claim?
After the home secretary announces plans to ensure people convicted of killing police officers get life for life, FactCheck digs in to the announcement.
Chris Grayling says a “rehabilitation revolution” driven by payment by results will cut re-offending. FactCheck digs in.
There are no hard statistics available on outcomes yet, which means we effectively have to take the minister’s word for it.
“The powder-keg potential of the situation is clear to voices from inside the prison system – rapidly rising numbers of new inmates, many of them vulnerable first-timers thrown in with serving prisoners, some members of street gangs whose violent rivalries will continue on the inside.”
The claim “It is true that we are thinking of putting up the reduction to a half. It makes an enormous difference to costs, police time and the involvement of unnecessary preparations for trial if everybody leaves guilty pleas to the last possible moment.” Ken Clarke, Justice Secretary, House of Commons debate, May 17, 2011
FactCheck checks it out FactCheck thought we had a hard day yesterday working on the Labour Manifesto but when 120 pages of the Conservative manifesto dropped in our inboxes we stopped what we were doing and got to work. The analysis “And we will raise the inheritance tax threshold to £1m to help millions of people who…