The number of people killing themselves in prisons is a “scandal” with many inmates dying in preventable circumstances, the chief inspector of prisons has said as he calls for an independent inquiry to be considered.
In his 2018-19 annual report, Peter Clarke said levels of self-harm were “disturbingly high” and self-inflicted deaths had increased to 83 from 72 the previous year. There was also a 25% increase in reported incidents of self-harm from 36,347 in 2017 to 45,310 in 2018.
At a press conference to launch the report, Clarke said: “Is it time, after years and years and years of the same faults, same mistakes, same admissions leading to self-inflicted deaths, is it time for there to be an independent external inquiry into this whole subject?
“It is no exaggeration to say it is a scandal. People in the care of the state are dying unnecessarily in preventable circumstances.”
Clarke said prison service officials had been slow to respond to the “deluge of drugs” flowing into jails, which were generating debt as well as bullying and violence.
The Prison Service had not been robust or sophisticated enough in its response to the threat, he said, adding that the introduction of new technologies had been “patchy”.
“The appalling impact of illicit drugs, particularly new psychoactive substances, had been underestimated and as a result many prisons were still suffering from the debt, bullying and violence they generated,” Clarke said.
“The response to the deluge of drugs [flowing] into many prisons in recent years has too often been slow and neither robust nor sophisticated.”
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), which covers England and Wales and is led by Clarke, published 78 inspection and thematic reports.
Deborah Coles, the director of the charity Inquest, said: “It is unconscionable that there is a self-inflicted death every four days in prison. Self-harm, violence and deaths are an endemic and ever-present feature of the prison system. These are the harmful symptoms of the overuse of imprisonment and the impact of dehumanising regimes.
“The inspectorate rightly comments on the chronic failures in the systems of accountability. Despite intense scrutiny, recommendations are systematically ignored.
“The human cost of this is further preventable deaths. Urgent action must be taken to dramatically reduce the use of prison, redirect resources into community alternatives and to hold those involved legally accountable for deaths across all state institutions.”
Clarke also revealed thousands of prisoners were being released without proper checks on the potential danger they posed to the public. Prisoners who were potentially a “high risk of harm” to the public were being released without a full risk assessment, the report said.
Richard Burgon, the shadow justice secretary, said: “The chief inspector’s annual report presents an extremely depressing picture of the state of our prisons, one that has become the norm as reckless Tory cuts to staffing and budgets have taken hold.
“While the chief inspector praises the extraordinary dedication of prison staff, this report makes clear the role of Tory austerity in unleashing this crisis. With violence spiralling out of control and prisons failing to do their basic job of rehabilitation, it’s way past time for the government to set out an emergency plan and funding to make our prisons safe.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Too many people self-harm and take their own lives in prison, which is why we have invested £70m in improving their conditions. We’ve also recruited over 4,700 new prison officers in the last two years and introduced the key worker scheme which means each prisoner has a dedicated officer for support.
“We’ve given the Samaritans £1.5m for three years to support their dedicated listeners scheme, given new training to over 24,000 staff and improved our processes for supporting those at risk of suicide or self-harm.
“The prisons and probation ombudsman already carries out investigations into every suicide in custody and prisons implement any recommendations that will help prevent future deaths.”
