Multiple prisoners are being locked in single cells for up to 23 hours a day as overcrowding ravages the prison system, a damning report revealed today.
In his annual review, HM Prisons Inspector Charlie Taylor warned violence levels were too high in men’s and youth prisons, while women’s prisons had "staggeringly high levels of self-harm".
He revealed just one out of 37 men’s prisons was rated good in the last year, with the other 36 rated insufficiently good or poor.
Outlining the findings of his latest report, Mr Taylor said overcrowding and pressures on the population in jails was "emerging as one of the biggest issues in our prisons".
It comes after campaigners accused the Government of being "significantly behind schedule" in its pledge to build 20,000 more prison places by the mid-2020s.
Mr Taylor said at least two male prisoners were spending up to 22 or 23 hours a day in “cramped” cells that were designed for solitary confinement in old and “crumbling” Victorian prisons.
It means they are not taking part in activities such as education, training or work that would support them in finding employment on release and reduce their risk of reoffending.
Mr Taylor said he is "really concerned" about the knock-on effects of overcrowding in jails in England and Wales as he warned “there is potentially a risk that we may get increasing levels of violence".
He also said there was a danger of prisoners taking drugs “to pass the time”, adding that while measures have been brought in to reduce the supply of drugs into prisons, little was being done to bring down demand.
This is a “huge concern” due to the well known links with drugs and more serious offending and a “cycle of homelessness, mental health problems and crime”.
“What we want for prisoners is an opportunity to be able to stop that cycle but too often we're seeing that cycle being compounded and repeated even while prisoners are in jail,” he added.
The chief prisons inspector said major staff shortages were also having “a devastating effect on the delivery of good outcomes for prisoners”.
His report highlighted concerns about increasing levels of violence against prison staff, as well as negative prison cultures and a lack of management support.
Mr Taylor also referenced Black prison staff and Black prisoners having said “subtle and insidious racism” was “widespread and persistent” in prisons.
Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “The chief inspector’s annual report paints a depressing picture of too many prisoners spending too little time out of cell and engaged in purposeful activity, often housed in cramped and overcrowded accommodation which struggles to meet even basic standards of decency.
“Much of this can be blamed on national trends such as the pressures of a rising prison population, insufficient officer numbers, and a dilapidated estate suffering from decades of underinvestment.”
Andrea Coomber KC, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "The Chief Inspector raises the importance of leadership, suggesting it can be a crucial factor in turning a prison around. What we now need to see is strong leadership from government to address the chronic issues afflicting the system as a whole.
"Westminster has seen nine changes of Secretary of State for Justice in eight years, but people living and working in prisons have seen only systemic inertia and malaise. We can change that, but only if we recognise that expanding the prison system even further will prove a historic mistake.”
A Prison Service spokesman said: “Our aim is to protect the public by rehabilitating prisoners and cutting reoffending, which is why we are building 20,000 modern places – the biggest prison build since the Victoria era – and investing unprecedented amounts in education, employment and other support to put offenders on the straight and narrow.
“As this report suggests, there is much more work to do but we are making significant progress and the proportion of prison leavers finding work six months after release has doubled, while the report also notes the positive impact of our tougher security measures."
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