Danny Kruger, Chief Executive of the criminal justice charity Only Connect, which works in prisons, schools and in the streets, comments on Lord Woolf’s calls for an investigation into UK prisons:
“Lord Woolf’s calls for a new investigation into the state of the nation’s prisons are welcome - and should be heeded.
“Whether they will be listened to is another issue. Just last week the Justice Select Committee released an intensely troubling review looking at every aspect of our prison estate. This report was lost behind the high profile budget - perhaps because according to the Select Committee, all available indicators point to a rapid deterioration in standards of safety and levels of performance in UK prisons.
“It is clear to any onlooker that the current range of prison provisions are not fit for purpose. This is not the fault of any one organisation or funding body, but rather the toxic cocktail of too many prisoners, crumbling buildings, not enough prison officers and a lack of access for voluntary rehabilitative services. The lack of rehabilitation leaves far too many prisoners walking out of prison no better than the day they went in. Lord Woolf is right that for many, prisons are worse than they were 25 years ago, with the cuts in vocational training inside making it ever harder to secure employment on the outside.
“We absolutely support the Select Committee’s recommendation that prisoners are given the flexibility to shop, cook and cater for themselves. Too often prisoners are seen as passive service users. By providing a level of agency for individual prisoners, we equip them with the skills they will need to successfully survive in society.
“The report lays bare the challenges facing the justice system. Without further investment, we urge the government to look at creative answers to the rehabilitation crisis. Voluntary sector and partner organisations have the skills, the knowledge and the funding to plug the prisons gap, and must play a formalised role in ensuring that once offenders are out of prison, they stay out.”
