Thought for the Week: Prisons Week
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, reflects on the prison system
As we approach Prisons Week (16 to 22 November) it is worth remembering that the public do have a critical role to play in improving the outcomes of the criminal justice system and without their informed involvement and support any progress will be limited.
The facts and figures about the deteriorating state of our prisons and the poor state of people in them present a stark and disturbing picture. Strip away the political rhetoric, public relations gloss and popular media misrepresentation. Discount the vested interest of those who profit from growing a market in incarceration. And you are left with a public prison service cut by £263 million in three years, struggling to cope with the loss of more than 12,500 (twenty-eight per cent) of its staff since 2010 and an ever-rising prison population.
