Ministers are shown only the best in prisons

Ministers are escorted round prisons like tourists

I counted up all the prisons I had visited over more than 30 years and it came to well over 100 and many of them on several occasions often spending all day. I was not permitted to spend a night, although when I was first appointed to my job at the Howard League I did request that I could spend time in prison being received as a prisoner. I also wanted to spend time on the landing as an officer. The prison service rejected both requests outright. Nevertheless, I spent a great deal of time pottering round prisons looking into the dark corners and chatting to prisoners and staff and I think I got a pretty good idea of what went on.

In addition we ran programmes inside prisons and some of my staff carried keys to allow them free access across the prison. We ran schemes inside Feltham with young people, in Bulwood Hall with girls and in Coldingley with adult men.

Every now and again a photo is published by the Ministry of Justice of a minister or the Secretary of State walking along an empty landing with the governor of a prison. I have seen this charade myself. Of course prison managers want to show that they are doing their best, and will point out the challenges. But this pre-arranged guided tour gives no real picture of what is happening in the prison.

I remember having a minister visit our workshop in Coldingley. Our scheme was inside a huge hangar like workshop that was meant to be manufacturing signs. The minister walked through the busy workshop and complimented the staff on the purposeful activity. He stayed in our scheme for about half an hour and then walked back through the busy workshop. As soon as the gate closed on him, everything stopped in the workshop. The officers went back to their office to make tea and the prisoners put their feet up on the desks or took out the packs of cards. I kid you not. It was an extraordinary sight. I have to say that in our scheme the seven or eight prisoners worked full time and worked hard overseen by a Howard League staff member.

It is naive of ministers to think they are seeing the real prison. They are shown workshops and classrooms that are empty today, but told that yesterday and tomorrow there will be prisoners busy in them. This is the Alice in Wonderland world of prisons. And, it’s not true. The classrooms and workshops will be often empty or only engaging a handful of people.

The same thing happens with magistrates and judges who are herded round in groups and are therefore allowed to shirk the responsibility of having sent people to these prisons.

I am glad that ministers are now admitting that prisons are failing, but they cannot know the full meaning of that if they are escorted round like tourists.

During my thirty years, only one minister was ‘key carrying’ which meant she could go anywhere any time. The rest were all escorted and didn’t learn the filthy truth. They should do better.