More than two dozen staff at a prison in Kent were 'deliberately poisoned' with the drug spice, a union has said

Read more: trib.al/D2FILeQ

Buckling under the weight of chronic overcrowding and staff shortages, the prison system in England and Wales is in turmoil.

So why do we have them? What are prisons for?

Join us on 11 June as we ask these fundamental questions: howardleague.org/events/spotlig… Bill Keller

The prison population in England and Wales stands at 87,915.

There are 224 more people in prison today than there were last week, and 2,722 more than this time last year.

By the prison service's own measure of safe and decent accommodation, there is room for only 79,615

“The provision of productive sentences in clean and decent conditions, with access to adequate healthcare and support, is simply not possible when the system is being made to cram eye-watering numbers of people well beyond its capacity” - Andrew Neilson.

opendemocracy.net/en/prisons-mos…

Nov 2022: Govt refuses calls for a modest incease in prison law #legalaid fees which would've supported getting people out who could be safely released by The Parole Board, on the basis of focusing on reducing the backlog.

May 2024: Cases delayed due to prison overcrowding

'One time when there was no water it meant people couldn't really use the toilet...so we were seeing human faeces, bottles of urine. And then there's rats all underneath the rubbish.'

Lewis shares details of his time in Wandsworth prison with BBC Radio 4: bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

There is undoubtedly systemic failure in providing mental health support in the system.

But how did we get to this position and why is progress towards securing good mental health in prison so glacial? Read our #MHAW blogpost: howardleague.org/blog/mental-he… #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

£300 million will be spent on a new prison next to Gartree while extensive repairs are needed to ensure the existing jail is safe, secure and humane.
Watchdog says prisoners on the over 50s wing had no heating for weeks during a cold spell in November. imb.org.uk/news/hmp-gartr…

IN PARLIAMENT: 'There are 2,796 IPP prisoners languishing in our prisons. 705 of which are 10 years over their original tariff...The Ministry of Justice's refreshed IPP action plan clearly is not working' -Bambos Charalambous MP.

hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024-0…
#JusticeForIPPs #IPP UNGRIPP

IN PARLIAMENT: 'Will the Secretary of State take urgent steps to end the overcrowding in Wandsworth prison?' - Fleur Anderson MP.

Find Alex Chalk KC MP's answers to Tuesday's Justice questions: hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024-0…

IN PARLIAMENT: 'When a child is on remand and placed in youth detention, almost two thirds of these do not go on to receive a custodial sentence and 17% are acquitted' - Janet Daby MP asks whether public money could be better spent.
hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024-0…

Stats from @mojgovuk shows that prisons in England and Wales recorded 70,875 incidents of self-harm in the 12 months to the end of December 2023 – at a rate of one every seven minutes. The rate decreased by 5% in the most recent quarter.

howardleague.org/news/howard-le…

705 people serving #IPP sentences are 10 or more years over tariff. 90 people have taken their own lives in prison.

The IPP sentence continues to inflict undue misery and suffering.

📺 youtube.com/watch?v=7tBzt6…
#MHAW #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek #JusticeForIPPs

'There's too much pressure on prison governors and prison officers to be able to get people out of prison. They've already got a lot of firefighting to do. The prisons are all full, there aren't enough staff, people are in their cells for 22 hours a day. This is a system that is

Overcrowded prisons and delayed court appearances are a result of 'a history of underfunding” over three decades, says the Justice Select Committee Chair.

Sir Bob Neill says it's time for a “serious conversation” about criminal justice in the UK.

First thing I did on leaving the Civil Service - inc a stint at MoJ - was set up a direct debit to The Howard League.

'I struggled with suicidal ideation...it took me about three years to get my head around the ramifications of the sentencing' - Andrew Morris discusses the impact of serving an IPP sentence.

Catch up on our SPOTLIGHTS event here: youtube.com/watch?v=7tBzt6…
#MHAW #JusticeForIPPs

#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek : Anyone who spends time in prisons knows that they are teeming with people struggling with serious mental health problems. Last month, the government released data showing an increase of nearly 30% of self-harm incidents.

howardleague.org/blog/mental-he…