WE SAW IT COMING The rising tide of deaths in prison Professor Nick Hardwick The School of Law, Royal Holloway University of London The University of Sheffield/Leverhulme Trust Deaths in Punishment Conference Sheffield 25-26 October 2017

The Mandela Rules principles United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (The Nelson Mandela Rules) adopted 2015 Human dignity and the prohibition against torture and ill-treatment: ‘All prisoners shall be treated with respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings. No prisoners shall be subject to, and all prisoners shall be protected from, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment for which no circumstances whatsoever may be invoked as justification. The safety and security of prisoners, staff…shall be ensured at all times’. No discrimination and the needs of vulnerable prisoners: ‘There shall be no discrimination…prison administrations shall take account of the individual needs of prisoners… in particular the most vulnerable…’ Prison as punishment, not for punishment: ‘Imprisonment.. afflictive by the very fact of… depriving them of liberty. The prison system…shall not aggravate the suffering inherent in such a situation.’ Reintegration: ‘Those purposes [of imprisonment] can only be achieved if the period of imprisonment is used to ensure…the reintegration of such persons into society upon release…’ Normalisation: ‘The prison regime should seek to minimise any differences between prison life and life at liberty that tend to lessen the responsibility of the prisoners or the respect due to their dignity as human beings.’

Prison safety data: The last 10 years1 2007-8 2017 % changed 168 deaths in prison custody 316 + 88% 2.1 deaths/1000 prisoners 3.7 + 76% 76 apparent self-inflicted deaths 97 + 28% 0 homicides 2 - 22,462 reported incidents of self-harm 40,414 + 80% 278 self-harm incidents/1000 prisoners 474 + 71% 6,126 prisoners self-harmed 11,010 + 80% 15,644 assaults 26,643 + 70% 193 assault incidents/1000 prisoners 312 + 62% 1,481 serious assaults 3,606 + 143% 3,247 assaults on staff 7,159 + 120% 278 serious assaults on staff 805 +190% 1. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-march-2017

HMI Prisons: Living Conditions HMI Prisons HMI Prisons: Living Conditions HMI Prisons. Life in prisons: Living conditions. 2017

HMP Nottingham – Rebuilt 2010. Single cell.

HMP Hull – two person cell

HMP Pentonville – Occupied cell

HMP Pentonville – Occupied cell

HMP Pentonville – First night cell ready for use

Outside a wing

It need not be like this… From HMI Prisons Annual Reports 2010/11 and 2014/15

From Safety in Custody Statistics Bulletin – Deaths to June 17,asaults and self harm to March 17

Men and women

Reoffending rates From Proven Reoffending Statistics Quarterly Bulletin, October 2014to September2015  

External challenges

Staff reductions Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Workforce Statistics Bulletin, 30 June 2017 March 2010 – 24,831 March 2015 - 18,221 June 2017 - 18755 (’Reserves’=4!)

Staff recruitment progress Table 2: Headcount of Band 3 to 5 Prison Officers in post in establishments, 31 October 2016 to 31 August 2017 and future POELT places booked (as at end of August 2017) across the period September 2017 to January 2018   Headcount Staff in Post Official Statistics Management Information Establishment 31-Oct-16 30-Nov-16 31-Dec-16 31-Jan-17 28-Feb-17 31-Mar-17 30-Apr-17 31-May-17 30-Jun-17 31-Jul-17 31-Aug-17 Change Oct-16 to Aug-17 Prison Service Establishment total 18,503 18,541 18,438 18,780 18,691 18,950 19,051 19,194 19,304 19,469 19,742 1239 Non-establishment based officers1 210 207 206 219 290 224 230 251 239 262 261 51 Total Officers 18,713 18,748 18,644 18,999 18,981 19,174 19,281 19,445 19,543 19,731 20,003 1,290

A timeline of decline From NOMS/HMPPS Annual Reports 2010/11 to 2016/17 Ken Clarke becomes Justice Secretary ‘Rehabilitation Revolution’ HQ restructuring and net reduction of 1500 staff across NOMS Total deaths: 200 SIDs: 63 2011/12 Riots – population increase ’Working Prisons’; Prison competition programme £228M savings Total deaths: 193 SIDs: 53 2012/13 Chris Grayling Justice Secretary £246M savings ‘Fair and sustainable’ pay policy begins’; ‘Privatisation’ of whole prisons replaced by ‘benchmarking’ and competition for works and facilities management Closure of 7 prisons; opening Oakwood/Thameside Total deaths: 193 SIDs: 63 2013/14 £274M savings; ‘Bench marking’ Phase 1 ’Transforming Rehabilitation’ launched Total deaths: 230 SIDs: 92 2014/15 £149M savings Launch of NPS and CRCs ‘New ways of working in all Cat B and C prisons. Total deaths: 247 SIDs: 82 2015/16 Michael Gove Justice Secretary ‘Prison Reform Programme’ Total deaths: 322 SIDs: 107 2016-18 NOMS becomes HMPPS £1.3B prison modernisation capital funds Total deaths: 316 SIDs: 97 Announcement of recruitment 2,500 additional prison officers

Warnings HMI Prisons Annual reports 2010/11 to 2014/15 2010/11: Things had improved over the previous five years but the first signs of slippage were there. 'The assessments we have made over the last five years have steadily improved' …but… 'there are some signs of slippage in 2010/11'. 2011/12: The risks were becoming more apparent. 'In my view overall, our inspection findings suggest that there is a risk of undermining the progress that has been made in recent years and threatening the delivery of the government’s rehabilitation revolution. If a rehabilitation revolution is to be delivered, with all the economic and social benefits that promises, there is a pretty clear choice for politicians and policy makers – reduce prison populations or increase prison budgets'. 2012/13: The cracks were beginning to show. "All the establishments we inspected during the year were under pressure to do more with less and, in some, the cracks were beginning to show…Politicians and policy makers should be very careful not to put the valuable policy and savings gains they have already made at risk by ignoring those signs and piling on the pressure regardless'.

2013/14: Safety was in sharp decline 2013/14: Safety was in sharp decline. 'Increases in self-inflicted deaths, self-harm and violence cannot be attributed to a single cause. They reflect some deep-seated trends and affect prisons in both the public and private sectors. Nevertheless, in my view, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the conjunction of resource, population and policy pressures, particularly in the second half of 2013–14 and particularly in adult male prisons, was a very significant factor in the rapid deterioration in safety and other outcomes we found as the year progressed and that were reflected in NOMS’ own safety data.' 2014/15: Outcomes were the worst for ten years. 'Assessed outcomes in the prisons we reported on in 2014–15 fell sharply across all areas and, overall, the outcomes we reported on in 2014–15 were the worst for 10 years'.

OPCAT Establishes international and national preventative visiting bodies INTERNATIONAL: Sub- Committee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) NATIONAL: National Preventative Mechanisms (NPMs) Article 1 The objective of the present Protocol is to establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The UK NPM UK ratified OPCAT in 2003 and designated its NPM in 2009 Co-ordinated by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (E&W) 20 bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Covering prisons, police and court custody, immigration detention, secure children’s homes, secure mental hospital

Should the inspectorate be able to do more? Prevention and protection – not investigation or regulation Requirement to respond to recommendations and ‘special measures’ Human rights based standards Legal protection from victimisation

OPCAT requirements for an NPM Article 3: Each State Party shall set up, designate or maintain at the domestic level one or several visiting bodies for the prevention of torture... Article 4: Allow visits…to any place under its jurisdiction or control where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty with a view to strengthening protection… Article 18: Guarantee and ensure: Functional independence, competence and make-up, resources, adherence to the Paris Principles Article 19: NPM powers to regularly examine treatment of detainees to strengthen their protection; make recommendations and submit proposals/observation on legislation Article 20: Access to information concerning the number, treatment and conditions of detainees; unrestricted access to all places of detention/detainees; private interviews; access to the SPT Article 21: Protection from victimisation Article 22: Consideration of and dialogue about recommendations Article 23: Publish and disseminate NPM Annual Report