Prisons & Probation – Latest News:
- Thu, 10 Sep 2026 17:35:24 +0000: The Guardian view on the prisons crisis: moving men into women’s jails is not the answer | Editorial - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Kneejerk reactions to overcrowding will do more harm than good. Ministers should focus on probation
It is not hard to see why ministers are considering converting parts of the women’s prison estate for use by men. While Andy Burnham’s decision to narrow the early-release scheme was born of political necessity, it has made an already acute capacity problem worse. Excluding manslaughter and further sexual offences cut projected early releases from 6,000 to 4,500. The family of PC Andrew Harper, who was killed on duty in 2019, welcomed the assurance that his killers would not be released early. But the change left overcrowded English and Welsh jails with even less room.
The government is trying to innovate. Last week it was announced that £110m will be spent on creating new cells in existing jails, by converting underused spaces such as storage and laundry areas. Deportations are to be speeded up, if foreign governments can be persuaded to cooperate. There is an overdue and welcome commitment to examine how indeterminate imprisonment for public protection sentences can be phased out.
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Continue reading... - Mon, 07 Sep 2026 06:00:27 +0000: Ministers propose converting female prison estate into cells for men - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Plans would see parts of estate converted but campaigners warn it just ‘moves the crisis from one part to another’
Ministers will seriously examine converting parts of the female prison estate into cells that can safely house male prisoners, as the government looks to reduce numbers of women in prison to ease strain on the system.
The prisons minister Catherine McKinnell is to look into the practicalities of converting female spaces to male over the coming months, after warnings from governors and experts that it would pose significant challenges.
Continue reading... - Sun, 06 Sep 2026 16:58:43 +0000: Education in prison is key to tackling the crisis | Letters - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
It would be better for the government to focus on rehabilitative programmes, rather than turning laundry rooms into extra cells, writes Jon Collins. Plus letters from Margaret Carey, Simon Hamilton and David Evans
Turning laundry rooms into cells, as the justice secretary has proposed, will put even more pressure on our understaffed and overcrowded prisons (Burnham warned running prison capacity near limit is ‘big risk’, 1 September). This will, in turn, make it even less likely that people in prison will be able to access the education and training that will help them to turn their lives around.
Education in prison is proven to reduce reoffending and get more people into work. But we’ve already seen provision slashed by a quarter in prisons this year. Just this week, an inspection of a prison in northern England found that there were not enough places in education and many men were frustrated at the lack of opportunity to progress in their sentence.
Continue reading... - Sat, 05 Sep 2026 09:00:32 +0000: The pressure on Burnham to appease the right is huge. But now is the time to step out of Reform’s shadow | Andy Beckett - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
A scandal-besieged Reform still has a loyal base that won’t budge. That should free up the PM to deliver some home truths
Despite the bright start to Andy Burnham’s premiership, and Reform UK’s sudden disarray, a shadow still hangs over British centre-left politics. Labour has a small poll lead, a cautious air of confidence and a leader who seems energised rather than overwhelmed by trying to solve the country’s problems. Meanwhile, Reform is having a terrible 2026: mired in deepening funding scandals, losing winnable byelections and, thanks to the drama and novelty of Burnham’s leadership coup and new government, no longer the freshest story around.
Yet Reform UK’s support has either held up or fallen only slightly in most polls since Burnham entered Downing Street. Even in the Makerfield byelection, where he beat it more decisively than expected, Reform’s vote share and total support actually rose. Nigel Farage may have spent the year uncharacteristically avoiding journalists, or in his prickly rather than jolly public mode, but the overwhelming majority of Reform supporters, almost a quarter of the electorate, remain faithful. “Power is within our grasp!” insisted Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, at its party conference in Birmingham on Friday, and they applauded with determined gusto.
Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading... - Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:57:12 +0000: All the world’s a stage in prison drama workshops | Letter - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Dr Alan Clarke recalls the rehabilitative power of art and performance in the prisons he visited
With regard to the article about Mark Rylance’s Shakespeare workshops in Brixton prison (‘That’s what saved me’: Darren Raymond and Mark Rylance on the prison drama workshop that brought them together, 30 August), I was lucky enough to experience one of them, which had a profound impact on me. It was my first time inside a prison, and after passing through security it was a real surprise to find myself in a proper drama studio. Thanks to the initiative of Bruce Wall and the London Shakespeare Workout, a former canteen had been converted into a drama space.
For the workshop that I witnessed, Mark had been working on a Shakespeare speech with one of the prisoners, who then performed it to the rest of the group. In a quiet, sensitive manner he presented the speech – not by Othello or one of Shakespeare’s male characters but by Cleopatra mourning Antony. The astonishing thing was the response of his audience – no mockery from prisoners in a high-security prison at a fellow prisoner playing a woman, but complete respect for an actor performing a role.
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