A bit late in posting the latest Long View. Prisoners on the loose now - and in the 1860s. Featuring Prof Helen Johnston and @johnpodmore.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The inquest found that neglect had contributed to her death – an extremely rare conclusion which can only be used where there has been a gross failure to provide basic medical attention and this has caused a person’s death. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

ECHR: to the best of my research the UK “loses” (i.e. has a violation ruling) roughly 5-20 cases a year in past decades, but more recently this is down to nearer 1–5 cases a year. Happy to be contradicted.

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/la... - crunch time?? @arusbridger.bsky.social

‘Nothing to see here’ say the prison service and ministers- I beg to disagree. We have a £1 billion illicit drug economy in our prisons and some people are doing very well out of it.

Leaked report shows 10,000 gap in probation staff

Corruption in prisons goes far beyond the sensational headlines about female officers and illicit affairs. It has seeped into the very core of the system, reaching the highest levels of leadership. This isn’t just misconduct—it’s rot at the top.

Well done Governor Colin Hussey and his team- may they be left in post to continue their work

“The prison service had failed to protect this jail from serious organised crime gang activity”

Is this a modern day Medomsley?

A national scandal gaming no media traction www.gov.uk/government/n...

The PFI contract awarded in 2004 to G4S for Oakhill runs until June 2029, with an overall contract value of c £450 million over 25 years / £18m per year c £170k per child per year. This is not about resources, overcrowding or crumbling Victorian buildings- leadership & management, pure &simple

BREAKING HUGE WIN! 🚨 New York just announced that phone calls will soon be FREE in New York prisons, bringing around $13 million in relief annually to incarcerated people and their families. The new policy is expected to go into effect on August 1st. Spread the news!

www.theguardian.com/environment/... “I have just been put on a 12-week education course, which I’m already qualified for and which I will never complete, as I move prison in three weeks”

“Yet many of its shocking failures are firmly within the control of leaders." www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

“As things stand, HMPPS remains a top-heavy, inflexible, and overly bureaucratic organisation. It is failing to show the change leadership, flexibility, and innovation that is desperately required. Whether it is fit for purpose is open to question and remains to be proven.”

“A sense of complacency and inadequate accountability arrangements throughout the prison service; Reviewed in totality, HMPPS is inflexible, and overly bureaucratic” - excoriating stuff from the Committee but the Government is still promoting those responsible ( without due process)

@hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social being attacked yet again by the Prison Governors Association is not a good look.

“Too many of the failures outlined in this letter are firmly within the control of HMPPS leaders” - who continue to be promoted and rewarded for their failure

Superb blog

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06... There are corrupt male staff as well . And there are issues of leadership, management and culture.

Social Care in prison - a real issue and an increasing problem.

Well done Governor Dainton - visible and leading from the front . Fingers crossed she is left there to continue her work.

Prison with employment, education & training. Release with support, education/employment , & decent accommodation- or sub-cutaneous trackers provided by companies with poor track records of delivery but with lucrative revolving door opportunities.

Principles 😂

Dreadful - but a policy that HMPPS has been operating for years

No10 has issued odd internal guidance banning officials speaking at public events It means more closed govt & worse policy decisions-the opposite of what ministers say they want From @drhannahwhite.bsky.social & me @instituteforgovernment.org.uk www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gove...

🏳️‍🌈During #PrideMonth we want to highlight some of the positive practice we have seen on our inspections.

Indeed, and where there is no overcrowding and full staffing levels. The inconvenient truth is that there is a leadership and management crisis.

www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ju... The closure of Holloway should have been a trigger for the implementation of Corston and a new culture in the treatment of women and girls. Sadly the intellectual bankruptcy of the prison service and the inadequacy of politicians conspired for no change.

What could possibly go wrong?

Given that the Perm Sec of the MoJ was recently promoted to PS at the Home Office and the DG/CEO of the prison & probation service was promoted to PS at the MoJ, Mark Rowley saying there was no consultation about the Gauke review is absolutely extraordinary.

“Labour will conduct a strategic review of probation governance, including considering the benefits of devolved models.” A manifesto commitment now ignored- classic ‘Yes Minister’ Throwing money at the current failed model will change nothing.

Hats off to the MoJ which has played a blinder today diverting much of the conversation post Gauke review to the mandatory castration of sex offenders.

How do you earn ‘credits’ for early release locked up 23 hours a day?

I welcome much of the Gauke proposals but it is quite clear that the prison and probation service as it is currently set up and managed and it’s culture is incapable of delivering any of it. And can we avoid the convenient deflection of the debate into chemical castration however good a headline

Prison officers get 7 weeks training, prison governors get none and senior leaders are promoted from within rather than recruited openly.

Duncan Campbell, celebrated Guardian crime reporter, dies aged 80

Catching those who have been corrupted is but one component. Managing those who organise the corruption needs a strategy. France has started organised crime separation units. Indonesia is developing integrity zones. We allow them multiple privileged jobs, single cells and free gym membership.

HMP Berwyn: drugs too easily available and levels of violence and self-harm high. Read our inspection report: hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_repo... And our press release: hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/news/reports... See the healthy prison scores:

Points to note: - 25% of prisoners were unemployed and 27% were in part-time work or education - Incentives to reward and motivate prisoners were poor - Public protection arrangements, offender management and staff retention and support had improved - Living conditions were good.

We should remember that Berwyn is the model for £9 billion of capital investment and that it is not all about overcrowded, crumbling Victorian prisons

It is extraordinary that at a time when the prison and probation service is failing by every metric The Lord Chancellor promotes its head to Permanent Secretary and everyone below her in turn, with no due process and in complete disregard of the Nolan principles.

A ‘tackling unacceptable behaviour unit’ ?? Isn’t that what managers do? Deeply disturbing account of culture in a prison I governed for a few years.

Shabana Mahmood warned of risk to pregnant women in halting Sentencing Council guidelines

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/680a3e... Whatever happened to open competition or even due process?