Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture’s call for input on current issues and good practice in prison management

“The prison estate maintains a peculiar position of being both overcrowded and dysfunctional, yet disproportionately over-resourced. (HMPPS currently receives 53 per cent of the Ministry of Justice’s £14.8 billion budget, of which three-fifths are spent on prisons alone.)

“The Ministry of Justice’s own data, the reports of oversight bodies, and the experiences of people living and working in prisons paint a grim picture, in which establishments are struggling to manage facilities safely, humanely and in accordance with international human rights standards.

“As noted by the Special Rapporteur, this elevates the risks of cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, and opportunities for meaningful rehabilitation are limited.”

Read the submission in full