The volume of drugs being delivered by drones into prisons is severely undermining hopes of rehabilitation among inmates, a watchdog has warned.
Criminal gangs are smuggling contraband to bored and vulnerable inmates who are locked up for most of the day in filthy cells with little activity, the chief inspector of prisons’ annual report said.
Charlie Taylor previously warned that drones dropping drugs at high-security jails HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin was a “threat to national security”, and he repeated calls for the threat to be taken seriously “at the highest levels of government”.
The watchdog chief said: “This has been another very difficult year for prisons in England and Wales with the ingress of contraband delivered by drones severely impacting the essential work that many have been able to do with prisoners.
“The challenge for the prison service must be to work in conjunction with the police and security services to manage prisoners associated with organised crime. This is a threat that needs to be taken seriously at the highest levels of government.
“Only when drugs are kept out, and prisoners are involved in genuinely purposeful activity that will help them to get work and resettle successfully on release, can we expect to see prisons rehabilitate rather than just contain the men and women they hold.”
Almost two-fifths (39%) of respondents to prisoner surveys said it was easy to get drugs in prison, and inspectors regularly visited prisons where the recorded rate of positive random drug tests was more than 30%.
The report said in many jails there were “seemingly uncontrollable levels of criminality” that often inexperienced staff were unable to contain.
Taylor’s report found overcrowding and lack of activity caused frustration among prisoners, which fuelled the demand for drugs, with many spending most of the day in cramped shared cells with broken furniture and vermin.
Overcrowding meant there were not enough places for every prisoner to take part in work or education while in custody, but even when there were spaces available inspectors found underused workshops because of staff shortages.
Purposeful activity was the worst performing assessment category by inspectors, with 28 out of 38 adult prisons visited deemed to be “poor” or “not sufficiently good” in this area.
The government recently approved the use of protective body armour for prison staff in high security areas after four prison officers were attacked with hot oil and homemade weapons by Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi at HMP Frankland in April.
Ministers vowed to create 14,000 new prison places by 2031 and have accepted recommendations from the independent sentencing review to curb overcrowding in the long term.
James Timpson, the prisons minister, said: “This report shows the scale of the crisis we inherited and the unacceptable pressures faced by our hardworking staff – with prisons dangerously full, rife with drugs and violence.
“We are ending this chaos. After just 500 prison places added in 14 years, we’re building 14,000 extra – with 2,400 already delivered – and reforming sentencing to ensure we never run out of space again. We’re also improving prisons so they cut crime, not create better criminals.
“We’re also investing £40m to bolster security, alongside stepping up cooperation with police to combat drones and stop the contraband which fuels violence behind bars.”