PRT comment: HM Chief Inspector of Prisons’ Annual Report 2024–25

Commenting on the findings of today’s (8 July) annual report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“This report paints a bleak but sadly familiar picture of a prison system in deep crisis. When over 30% of drug tests are coming back positive, when prisoners are locked in squalid, overcrowded cells with little to do, and when mental health needs are going unmet, it’s not just a prison problem — it’s a public safety issue.

“Prisons should be places of rehabilitation, not warehouses of despair. The fact that even training prisons are failing to deliver basic education and skills is a damning indictment of a system that is failing both prisoners and the public.

“The government’s reforms, including the Sentencing Review and early release schemes, are a necessary step in the right direction — but must be matched by urgent investment in staff, safety, and purposeful activity. Without bold, long-term action, we will continue to see rising violence, reoffending, and human suffering behind bars.

“This report is a clear call to move beyond short-term fixes and deliver lasting reform. This is no time for politics — victims, prisoners, staff, and the communities prisoners return to deserve better.”