By Eric King And Charlie Carmichael-
A damning report about Birmingham prison has highlighted most “disturbing” conditions ever witnessed in the national prison system.
The report incorporated in the annual publication by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales includes a survey showing a third of prisoners felt unsafe. The notorious prison is a long way away from delivering respectable standards of operations, with lawlessness thriving in an environment that where one of Britain’s worst criminals serve jail time, intimidating others and affiliating with other hardened criminals who bounce off one another.
The Birmingham prison appears to be supervised and overseen by a bunch of incompetent officials who do very little to address the failings in the prison. Birmingham prison like most other prisons runs an education and training programme, but this has been of very questionable impact on many of its lawless inmates. This fact was also reflected in the 126-page document seen by The Eye Of Media.Com and some other media outlets.The report reads: “… learners’ attendance was very poor; very few sessions had more than 50 per cent of those allocated attending… reasons for non-attendance were rarely identified… sanctions for those who did not attend activities were rarely applied.”
Of the recommendations for the privately-run jail made by inspectors, 18 were achieved, seven were partially met and 39 had not been fulfilled. It revealed that half of all local prisons had failed to implement the changes specified by the independent monitoring body. The report also showed that a vast majority of inmates do not feel safe in the prison.
The report read : “On average, almost a quarter said that they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection; this figure was as high as 37 per cent in Birmingham and Wormwood Scrubs.
“Some prisons had begun to take appropriate strategic action, but even then violence remained high and more sustained action was required.” Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke, was also very critical about the prison system.
He said: “The year 2017-18 was a dramatic period in which HM Inspectorate of Prisons documented some of the most disturbing prison conditions we have ever seen – conditions which have no place in an advanced nation in the 21st century.
“In this, my third annual report as HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, violence, drugs, suicide and self-harm, squalor and poor access to education are again prominent themes.
“Another recurrent theme is the disappointing failure of many prisons to act on our previous recommendations – which are intended to help save lives, keep prisoners safe, ensure they are treated respectfully and to give a chance of returning to the community less likely to re-offend.”
Andrew Neilson, Director of Campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, responded: “No public service in England and Wales has deteriorated as rapidly and as profoundly in recent years as the prison system. This excoriating report is yet another reminder of the scale of the chaos in overcrowded and under-resourced jails that are failing everyone.”
MP Birmingham has witnessed some of the worst levels of chaotic scenes ever observed at a British prison. Inmates took over four wings at the Category B jail during a 12-hour riot which started on December 16, 2016, causing more than £6m worth of damage. About 500 prisoners escaped their cells at the jail, which is run by G4S, before the unrest was quelled with the aid of specially-trained ‘Tornado’ team prison officers and riot police.
G4S, who run the prison, said it had made “significant” changes including refurbishing damaged wings, introducing new technology and strengthening security.
Director of HMP Birmingham Rob Kellett said: “Since taking charge of HMP Birmingham in February I have seen at first-hand the great job that our dedicated staff and partners do every day in challenging circumstances.
“We are absolutely committed to providing a good standard of accommodation and purposeful activity, and the safety of our staff, partners and those in our custody is our first priority.” Statements like this are typical of representatives of organisations, who always try to salvage the damage done to their reputation following a stream of negative publicity. Plenty of improvements are yet to be seen in Birmingham prison and rather than hearing well worded rhetorics, people want to see change. The Eye Of Media.Com recommends a complete transformation of the prison’s operations, including a higher level of insistence that the prison’s inmates attend its education and training programme, with punitive measures applied to those who fail to do so.
The Eye Of Media.Com has told Birmingham prison that we will keep a close eye on their progress on a quarterly basis and request feedback, especially on the educational progress of inmates, many of whom are school drop outs.