British prisons described as intolerable

Press, 6 May 1981, Page 11

British prisons described as intolerable

By KEN COATES in London Britain's prisons, rusting, falling to pieces, and overcrowded have been described as intolerable, yet again. This time the criticism has come from the director-gen-eral of the Prison Department, Mr Dennis Trevelyan. There is nothing new in his annual report in a country which continues to put up With many grim prisons built more than 100 years ago, cells with up to three and four prisoners sharing them, and prison officers whose morale is low. The prison population stands at 43,200 and is rising steadily towards last year’s record 44,600. There is widespread agreement that this cannot go on, and the Home Secretary, Mr William Whitelaw, admitting that overcrowding is a dangerous problem, has tried to persuade judges and magistrates to send fewer people to prison, and for shorter periods, but to little avail. It now seems likely that a bill will be introduced during

the next Parliamentary session to limit sentencing. The Government also plans to introduce proposals for young offenders which will ’probably increase the number of young people in custody. The plan is to reduce Detention Centre sentences from a minimum of three months to three weeks, and from a maximum of six months to four months. There has been widespread criticism of the prison service itself. It has been pointed out that while prison governors may now talk to the press, boards of visitors, the public watchdogs, work in strict secrecy. Prisoners’ correspondence, even to their solicitors, is censored, in spite of the strong disapproval of the European Commission of Human Rights. What is not clear is just how long prisons in this country will continue to be what their director calls “An affront to a civilised society.’’