A FORMER Quaker chaplain at HM Prison Wandsworth, in south-west London, will not be hopeful of a right away improvement in conditions — despite a letter from the Chief Inspector of Prisons to the Justice Secretary calling for urgent changes to combat “systemic and cultural failures” on the prison.
Liz Bridge volunteered on the prison for seven years, serving as a Quaker chaplain and running a charity providing amenities for prisoners. After admitting to creating several payments to inmates of lower than £25, through the prison payment system, she was banned from the location last autumn.
Deficiencies on the prison include a shortage of clothing for inmates, and unreliable access to medical support, she said.
A shortage of staff contributes to the locking up of the boys for many of the day, in cells designed for single, but adapted for double, occupancy. This created a “terribly vicious cycle”, Liz Bridge said, by which oppressive conditions result in increased violence and self-harm.
There had been “shocking decline” at Wandsworth, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, said last week. “There was a level of despondency amongst prisoners that I even have not come across in my time as Chief Inspector.”
Most prisoners would spend greater than 22 hours a day locked in “cramped” cells, and living conditions within the “badly overcrowded” prison were “very poor”: greater than two-thirds of the prisoners reported that they felt unsafe.
Issues stemmed from poor leadership “at every level”, including the Ministry of Justice, he said. Prison staff were “often fighting against a tide of cross-cutting, intractable problems that require comprehensive, long-term solutions”.
In a letter to the Justice Secretary, Alex Chalk, on Wednesday of last week, Mr Taylor invoked the “urgent notification” process, which requires a response from Mr Chalk inside 28 days.
Mr Taylor reported that “inexperience across every grade of operational staff was stopping them from bringing about much-needed change.”
The Governor of HM Prison Wandsworth, Katie Price, resigned after an unannounced inspection at the top of April. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said that she had given notice before the inspection.
To turn the prison around would take a political will that was currently lacking, Liz Bridge suggested, referring to the scale of the prison population as an insuperable barrier. “We’ve got to have some type of conversation as a society about incarceration levels and the culture of prisons.”
With a General Election expected this 12 months, she said, it was vital that individuals concerned about prison conditions “ask what is occurring behind the wall”.
Mr Taylor’s report was “deeply concerning”, the Prisons Minister, Edward Argar, said, in reponse to a request for comment.
“It is evident that on top of the extra support we’ve already provided since September, to enhance safety and security, including nearly £1 million of upgrades, we’d like to go further still.
“In the approaching weeks, we will probably be strengthening the management team with extra experienced staff to supply the leadership, culture change, and training needed to show Wandsworth around. In the interim, we’re deploying more staff, including prison officers, to the prison, and can set out further motion shortly.”
