Deepening prisons crisis is ‘damning indictment of David Lammy’s failure’

Labour is accused of presiding over a “crisis” in the nation’s prisons with alarm bells triggered at six establishments. Conditions have sunk so low at six prisons that “urgent notifications” – a formal warning for when conditions are so dire the Justice Secretary is personally alerted – have been issued. Since Labour took power, HMP Rochester, HMP Manchester, HMP Winchester, HMP Swaleside, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Woodhill have all triggered this emergency mechanism.

HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes has been the subject of an urgent notification in both August 2023 and March this year. According to HM Inspectorate of Prisons, the “rate of prisoner-on-prisoner violence had increased by 23% and the rate against staff had increased by 45% since the last inspection in 2023”.

Commenting on the state of the “long-term high secure estate”, Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor this month described how men are “languishing in their cells and criminal behaviour is going unchecked by often inexperienced officers, the dealing and use of drugs is rife and there are frightening levels of violence, including some very serious assaults on both prisoners and staff”. He added he was concerned about the risk to public as men were released from prisons such as Woodhill with “little work” done to “rehabilitate them or reduce their future risk of harm”.

The Conservatives say that between 2018 and May 2024, the average number of prisons that received an urgent notification was 2.31 per year, compared to 3.59 per year since Labour entered Government in July 2024.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy said: “These figures are a damning indictment of David Lammy’s failure to get a grip on our prisons. Urgent notifications are alarm bells that are being ignored under Labour. This drastic increase proves Labour have no serious plan to improve the prison system. At a time when tens of thousands are criminals are being released early or avoiding prison entirely, what we need is a practical and radical plan to improve our prisons.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This Government inherited a prison system at the peak of its crisis, filled with violence, drugs and overcrowding – as evidenced by the number of urgent notifications. We are tackling these problems head on by building 14,000 more prison places by 2031, with 3,100 already delivered, alongside new sentencing reforms to put the justice system on a sustainable footing.”

A source within the department said: “There were four urgent notices issued in 2023, the last full year of the Tory Government, a sign of the prisons crisis they left for us to clear up when they lost the election. Given their appalling record, no-one should listen to the Tories on prisons.”