eBulletin, 26 May 2023
Our latest eBulletin, sent out to those on our mailing list on Friday, 26 May. Sign-up for our free eBulletins here.
Prisons policy in England and Wales has taken a “catastrophic direction” since 2010, with prisons at risk of becoming “little more than warehouses of despair, danger and degradation”.
Not my words, but those of Andrea Albutt, President of the Prison Governors Association, speaking earlier this week to MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Penal Affairs. It was a stark assessment by someone with over thirty years experience working in prisons.
Her speech was in part a history lesson, as she went through the various stages of ‘reform’ in the prison system since the formation of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010.
The incoming Justice Secretary Ken Clarke, she argued, had inherited a prison system that, while far from perfect, was reasonably stable. The prison competition strategy Clarke launched in 2011 was “the real start of the race to the bottom”, as unrealistic cuts were sought.
Clarke’s successor, Chris Grayling, introduced a benchmarking exercise that sought further to drive down costs. The result was a “demonstrable deterioration of outcomes, particularly safety”. At the same time, the disastrous decision to compete facilities management resulted in a dilapidated estate in which “large parts...were unfit for human habitation but remained in use”.
Grayling’s successor, Michael Gove, tried to apply the logic of academy schools to prisons, with predictable results. His successor, Liz Truss, published plans to reduce bureaucracy and empower prison governors. Yet “rather than feeling empowered, Governors were feeling under more scrutiny than ever”.
And so it continued, through a further six Justice Secretaries between 2017 and 2023 (David Lidington, David Gauke, Robert Buckland, Dominic Raab, Brandon Lewis, Dominic Raab again) ending with the current incumbent, Alex Chalk.
“Since 2010”, Andrea Albutt said, “11 Justice Secretaries (one holding the post twice) and 13 Ministers (one holding the post twice) have, through political buffeting and interference achieved nothing but decline in the function of prisons”.
It was a pretty devastating critique, and one that left the MPs and Peers present straining to offer a response adequate to the scale of the problem she identified.
The dreadful state of our prison system, as well as particular injustices like the dreadful Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence, are the result of decisions by successive governments and Justice Secretaries, and by those parliamentarians that passed disastrous legislation and failed to hold Ministers to account.
But politicians are also part of the solution. Only they can pass legislation and change policy for the better.
Building support, inside and outside parliament and the corridors of power, for a sustained change in policy direction, remains a vital task.
Richard Garside
Director
On our website
Risky business: It isn’t every day that we’re given a glimpse into the inner workings of contract management at the Ministry of Justice. Paul Raymond, responsible for procurement management of electronic monitoring (EM) contracts between 2010 and 2012, has written two pieces about the chaotic management culture surrounding EM contracts.
Critiques of public management often highlight dysfunctional managerial cultures prone to risk aversion and buck-passing. Raymond provides expert insight as to how this critique has played out in the outsourcing of EM, the mismanagement of contracts, money down the drain, a Serious Fraud Office investigation and organisational denial.
Read Paul’s first article here and the subsequent piece here.
Under the influence: “I was curious to know if any hallucinogenic ingredients might be found in the meal. A knowing smile left me somewhat queasy and feeling exposed”. In his latest article, Mike Guilfoyle writes on a lunch with a client where food was not the only thing on the menu.
Hope and Change: Last week, we were joined by three tireless justice campaigners – Gloria Morrison, Sarah Ramsden and Marcia Rigg – for a special event discussing what it takes to campaign for real change, and to keep going despite all the obstacles.
It was our first combined online and in-person event and we’re grateful for all those attended.
You can watch the video of ‘Hope and Change: Campaigning for a better future’ here.
News from our partners
We collaborate with a range of partner organisations, including the three great organisations who share our building: Commons, StopWatch and The Monitoring Group.
Last week, Suresh Grover from The Monitoring Group appeared on the Uncommon Sense podcast. Alongside Shabna Begum (Runnymede Trust) and hosted by Dr Karis Campion (Stephen Lawrence Research Centre), the conversation reflected on solidarity and campaigning.
“You always bring out the factual experience of people. You do not need to exaggerate it. There is always evidence that exists. You just need to see it”, Suresh said. “You have to be very relentless... You have to be very selfless as a campaigner”.
Listen to some of Suresh’s thoughts on being an effective campaigner here and find the full show on Uncommon Sense.
Would like to meet
Did you know that we own our building in Vauxhall, a short hop from Westminster, which we share with a growing network of great organisations and inspiring campaigners.
If you're looking for a new office or a place to work, collaborate or meet, we might have just the thing. Drop us a line today.
Something for the weekend
If Paul Raymond’s articles on electronic monitoring pique your interest, here’s a bit of further reading that you can dip into.
Download our 2019 report by Mike Nellis on Grayling’s failings on electronic monitoring and Roger Grimshaw’s commentary on government failures to manage EM services in the criminal justice system.
Support our work
In the last 12 months, around one pound in every ten we received in income came from individual donations. We are so appreciative of the vital support we receive from our donors and supporters.
If you like what we do, and can afford to make a donation to support our important work, we would be very grateful.
You can also spread the word about our work by forwarding on this bulletin to others and encouraging them to sign up.