Prison inspectors issue second urgent notification for HMP Bedford

Reacting to the Urgent Notification for improvement at HMP Bedford issued by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons today, Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“This is the fifth urgent notification the chief inspector has issued this year and the third against a reception prison. It is also the second urgent notification that Bedford has received. Many of the problems at the prison are symptomatic of a wider crisis of staff retention, prison capacity and underinvestment. The pattern of too few inexperienced staff looking after too many prisoners in cramped and squalid conditions is one repeated across the estate. However, questions must also be asked as to why Bedford has not learnt the lessons of the past or been able to implement sustainable change.”