Calls for Inquiry After Evidence of Rampant Violence in UK Jails

The Prison Governors Association is an organization that represents the managers of prison across the UK. And on Wednesday (October 12), they unanimously voted for a public inquiry at the body's annual conference in Derby, in the north of England. 

Such a significant official call for a public investigation into their own member's jurisdictions, has been prompted by a catalog of damning evidence, published this year.

Just weeks ago, the prison watchdog, the Prison and Probation Ombudsman, released a report on its investigation into murders carried out behind bars.

The regulator's report found that violence levels are at an all-time high. There were more murders in the past four years, 17, than the previous 10 years combined; there were 4,000 assaults with weapons in prisons during 2015, a 38 % increase on the previous year; and 105 suicides over the last year, almost double the number five years ago.

Prison and Probation Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen said:

"The killing of one prisoner by another in a supposedly secure prison environment is particularly shocking, and it is essential to seek out any lessons that might prevent these chilling occurrences in future.

"What is clear is that the increased number of homicides is emblematic of the wholly unacceptable level of violence in our prisons."

Although the Prison Governors Association have said their call for an inquiry was "not about apportioning blame", the association has suggested that levels of safety in prisons have declined since the Conservative government introduced "benchmarking": a system to drive down costs by reducing staffing and simplifying the prison regime.

The Prison Governors Association said it wanted to know "why resources continued to be depleted when evidence showed that it was not working".

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Labour's Shadow Justice Minister, Yasmin Qureshi, said:

"When prison governors, who have the day-to-day responsibility for the management of our prisons, demand a public inquiry into the unprecedented levels of violence and suicides in prisons you know there is a crisis.

"The Justice Secretary must recognize that cuts have consequences and our prison system is failing at every turn as the result of this Tory Government's chronic lack of investment; more violence, more suicides, more re-offending. This is no way to run a prison system in the 21^st century."

A leading UK justice charity has also criticized the government's reforms for being partly responsible for the increase in shocking brutality in English and Welsh prisons.

According to the Howard League, the oldest penal reform organization in the world, the number of front line prison officers has dropped from 27,650 in 2010, to 14,689 in June 2016. However, over the same period the prison population has remained broadly the same, with 85,600 prisoners in 2010 and 85,082 in August of this year.

Speaking in response to the prison watchdog's report last month, the director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, Andrew Neilson, said his organization was particularly concerned at the growing level of overcrowding in British prisons.

"Reducing resources while allowing the prison population to grow unchecked has created a toxic mix of violence, death and human misery," Mr. Neilson said.

Last week, the Justice Secretary, Elizabeth Truss, promised an extra US$17,1 million (£14m) to recruit more prison officers to try and ease the pressure.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday:

"We are fully committed to addressing the significant increase in violence, self-harm and self-inflicted deaths in our prisons."

A government white paper setting out plans for prison safety and reform is due to be published shortly, they added.