PRT comment: Ministry of Justice safety in custody statistics

Responding to the publication of the Ministry of Justice’s Safety in Custody Statistics today, Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“Today’s figures are a shameful reflection of just how far safety in our prisons has fallen. In the last year alone, we have seen more self-harming, by more people, more often; and further rises in assaults between prisoners, and on staff. The government has a serious task ahead to try to restore safety and stability to our jails.

“When prisons are this overcrowded, and staff this overstretched, they become completely ill-equipped to deal with the scale of trauma and despair amongst the people in their care. The government has thankfully recognised the importance of reducing overcrowding as an immediate first step; this will buy some breathing space.

“But with the prison population projected to rise further still, attention will quickly need to turn to implementing longer term measures to reduce demand. Only then will we be able to break free of this downward spiral of declining safety in our prisons.”