Building prisons in England and Wales the bigger the better?

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Number 05646, 12 February 2016 8 prisons that facilitate bullying, drug taking and violence, so that we get on top of those problems. 12 2.3 Diamonds in the rough? In February 2016, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, gave a speech in which he repeated his call (made in 2009) for league tables for prisons and argued that, in tackling deep-rooted social problems, prisons should not be a no go area. He argued that prison reform should be a “great progressive cause” and set out his vision for a “modern, more effective, truly twenty-first century prison system”. He described too why the failure of the current system mattered: It matters to the public purse: this cycle of reoffending costs up to £13 billion a year. It matters to you: because in the end, who are the victims of this re-offending? It’s the mother who gets burgled or the young boy who gets mugged. It matters to the prison staff - some of the most deeply committed public servants in our country – who have to work in dangerous and often intimidating conditions. And yes, it matters to the prisoners themselves, who mustn’t feel that society has totally given up on them. 13 David Cameron went on to argue against the views that had (he said) held back progress. The ‘lock ‘em up’ or ‘let ‘em out’ debate was (he argued) sterile and had got in the way of real change. Prison was (he maintained) needed for serious offenders, but simple incapacitation was not enough. 14 He referred to the “diminishing returns” of increasing levels of incarceration: And the truth is that simply warehousing ever more prisoners is not financially sustainable, nor is it necessarily the most costeffective way of cutting crime. 15 From here, David Cameron set out the principles of the reform he wanted to see, which would follow the pattern of reforms to other public services: One: give much greater autonomy to the professionals who work in our public services, and allow new providers and new ideas to flourish. (…) Two: hold these providers and professionals to account with real transparency over outcomes. (…) 12 HC Deb 27 January 2016 c378 13 “Cameron prison reform speech in full”, politics.co.uk, 8 February 2016 14 ‘incapacitation’, that is, the value in putting offenders in custody so that they are not able to offend, is discussed in the Commons Library briefing Reducing reoffending: the “what works” debate (RP12/73, 23 November 2012): see in particular chapter 1 on the purposes of imprisonment and incapacitation. 15 “Cameron prison reform speech in full”, politics.co.uk, 8 February 2016
9 Building prisons in England and Wales: the bigger, the better? Three: intervene decisively and dramatically to deal with persistent failure, or to fix the underlying problems people may have. (…) Four: use the latest behavioural insights evidence and harness new technology to deliver better outcomes. (…) By applying these principles, I believe we really can deliver a modern, more effective prisons system that has a far better chance of turning prisoners into productive members of society. David Cameron wanted, he said, prisons to be places of care. He set out how new prisons could help raise standards: I think it’s frankly a disgrace that for so long we’ve been cramming people into ageing, ineffective prisons that are creaking, leaking and coming apart at the seams. These are places that were barely fit for human habitation when they were built, and are much, much worse today. (…) So I am proud that this this Government has made a £1.3 billion commitment to knock many of these prisons down and to build nine new ones, including five during this Parliament. As Policy Exchange’s work has shown, these new prisons can be far more effective at rehabilitating offenders, with modern facilities and smart use of technology such as biometric key systems. 16 He also described at more length what he envisaged, which included • greater operational and financial autonomy for prison governors would remove “bureaucratic micromanagement” which (he said) infantilised prison staff • adopting the academies model used for schools • creating six “reform prisons” this year, run by “some of the most innovative governors” • a strong role for businesses and charities in operating the reform prisons and the new prisons to be built in this Parliament • developing “meaningful metrics” about prison performance and • a Prisons Bill in the next session which would spread these principles across the rest of the prison system. The prison system was (he said) in some ways stuck in the dark ages, but diamonds could be found in the rough and enabled to shine: If we get it right, we can change lives, improve public safety and bring hope to those for whom it was in short supply. Turning waste and idleness into prisons with purpose. Turning remorse and regret into lives with new meaning. Finding diamonds in the rough and helping them shine. 17 16 “Cameron prison reform speech in full”, politics.co.uk, 8 February 2016 17 Ibid
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Building prisons in England and Wales the bigger the better?

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