Three-quarters of prisons in England and Wales in appalling conditions as overcrowding fears grow
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Observer investigation finds system is in ‘worst state ever’ as senior figures warn of inmates ‘being warehoused’.
By Michael Savage
The vast majority of prisons are providing inadequate conditions or unacceptable treatment, according to an Observer investigation that has led to claims of prisoners being ‘warehoused’ in a system in crisis.
An analysis of hundreds of inspections found that three-quarters of prisons in England and Wales are now providing insufficient standards in at least one respect.
More than a third were deemed to be insufficiently safe. On Saturday night, several senior figures warned that prisons were in the worst condition they had known.
The chief inspector of prisons, the Tory chair of the justice committee and senior prison staff all warned that the findings had been fuelled by overcrowding. The prison population stands at 86,763, with just 947 empty cells in England and Wales. However, insiders said that the supposedly ‘spare’ cells were often in the wrong p...
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