The Independent Monitoring Board has today released its report on HMP Grath. The report highlights a number of concerning issues; including access to illicit substances through drones and rising levels of violence. You can read the full report here.
Responding to the latest IMB Report out of HMP Garth, CEO of Nacro, Campbell Robb said:
“The issues highlighted at HMP Garth in the most recent inspection report, are symptomatic of a wider systemic crisis across our prison system. The significant increase in violence and the easy availability of illicit substances reveal failures of urgent concern. The report lays bare how such environments preclude any possibility of the rehabilitation so urgently needed if we want to move towards a more effective and sustainable justice system.
“The assertion that HMP Garth has become an ‘airport’ for contraband and has seen a 45% increase in violence exposes the desperate circumstances faced by many people in prison, exacerbated by overcrowding and insufficient resources.
“We are concerned about the impacts that restrictive measures aimed at tackling violence, such as restricting times out of cells, are having on people in prison. Isolation and a lack of meaningful activity are detrimental to people’s wellbeing, does nothing to support people to lead productive lives on release and can lead to increased substance misuse and violent behaviour in prison. Restriction of time outside the cell not only exacerbates the brutal conditions inside prison but fundamentally undermines rehabilitation efforts by preventing people from accessing vital work and educational opportunities.
“HMP Garth is another example of how without significant reform, we risk perpetuating a vicious cycle of violence and hopelessness within our prisons, undermining both public safety and the potential for rehabilitation in the long-term.”
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We operate in more than 40 prisons and provide services across England and Wales. We help 28,000 people across our services each year and run the CAS-2 service for the Government housing people coming out of prison on bail or licence. We work with people at every stage of the criminal justice system, from liaison and diversion services in police custody and courts, to resettlement into the community after prison. We use the insights from our services and the experiences of the people we support to campaign together for a criminal justice system which better serves us all. We’ve been working in this field for more than 50 years.