22/05/2020 11:30:00
Commenting on the findings of today’s report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Peter Dawson, Director for Prison Reform Trust said:
“This report highlights the government s failure to support the often heroic efforts of staff and prisoners to stay safe during the pandemic. An effective early release plan would have freed up capacity in the estate to maintain social distancing while ensuring the basics of a humane and decent regime. But only a handful of prisoners have been released under the restrictive measures the government has introduced.
“This has left prisons such as Coldingley resorting to the routine use of buckets in cells, and consigning prisoners to sit in accommodation for 23 hours a day which ought to have been decommissioned long ago. This approach is simply not sustainable. The worrying levels of violence observed in two of the three prisons is a troubling indicator of the toll the situation is taking on the wellbeing of prisoners and staff. Ministers must now act decisively to give prisons the headroom they need.”
Read more
21/05/2020 15:50:00
Commenting on today’s announcement by the government ahead of the Hidden Harms Summit, Katy Swaine Williams, Senior Programme Manager at the Prison Reform Trust said:
“We welcome the Hidden Harms initiative and the Prime Minister’s commitment to ‘support the most vulnerable and keep them safe from harm and exploitation’.
“Official figures show that nearly 60% of women in prison are victims/survivors of domestic abuse and this is likely to be an underestimate. Far from helping them, the state often compounds their victimisation. Many have been driven to offend by their experience of abuse. Yet while victims of trafficking rightly have a statutory defence where they are compelled to offend, there is no such legal protection for domestic abuse survivors. The government should use the Domestic Abuse Bill to modernise the law by providing equivalent legal defences.”
Read more
18/05/2020 13:00:00
Commenting on the findings of today’s report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Peter Dawson, Director for Prison Reform Trust said:
“This important report shows why there is absolutely no room for complacency about the crisis in our prisons. People are sharing cells with someone who might or might not be carrying the virus. They are spending weeks on end in an overcrowded cell for 23 and a half hours a day. Some sick prisoners have gone a fortnight without a shower. Prison managers, staff and prisoners have worked together to make the best of an impossible situation. They all deserve praise for doing so.
“By contrast, ministers have not done all they could to help. These three prisons are still overcrowded, but just one person has been released early to make space. To make matters worse, a much larger number of people are still being recalled to serve just a few days inside, despite the obvious risks. The current situation is obviously not sustainable, and will stop making sense as restrictions in the community start to ease and receptions into prison increase. It’s time for ministers to step up and end the overcrowding which turns a difficult situation into a dangerous one.”
Read more