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| Lord Woolf: 25 years on from Strangeways, prisons are still in crisis | Lord Woolf: 25 years on from Strangeways, prisons are still in crisis |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Prison officers know that the control of a prison depends largely on the consent of the prisoners. What can happen when that consent is withdrawn was never demonstrated more powerfully than on this day 25 years ago when the prisoners in Manchester’s Strangeways prison rebelled. The riot that followed left two people dead and turned into the longest prison siege in British penal history. To mark the anniversary, former master of the rolls and lord chief justice Lord (Harry) Woolf will on Wednesday give a Prison Reform Trust-sponsored lecture. | Prison officers know that the control of a prison depends largely on the consent of the prisoners. What can happen when that consent is withdrawn was never demonstrated more powerfully than on this day 25 years ago when the prisoners in Manchester’s Strangeways prison rebelled. The riot that followed left two people dead and turned into the longest prison siege in British penal history. To mark the anniversary, former master of the rolls and lord chief justice Lord (Harry) Woolf will on Wednesday give a Prison Reform Trust-sponsored lecture. |
| The theme is about achieving fairness and justice in our prisons. So, does he think it was fair for the government to ban legal aid for prisoners? “That was wrong, absolutely wrong, “ says Woolf. “We’re in the year of the Magna Carta. One of the fundamental requirements of the Magna Carta was that everybody should have access to justice. You can’t get access to justice if you can’t get the right assistance. Our justice system depends on people being appropriately represented.” | The theme is about achieving fairness and justice in our prisons. So, does he think it was fair for the government to ban legal aid for prisoners? “That was wrong, absolutely wrong, “ says Woolf. “We’re in the year of the Magna Carta. One of the fundamental requirements of the Magna Carta was that everybody should have access to justice. You can’t get access to justice if you can’t get the right assistance. Our justice system depends on people being appropriately represented.” |
| Related: I wouldn’t want another Strangeways, but awful conditions have consequences | Alan Lord | |
| Despite the lessons learned from Woolf’s seminal report into the riot, with a prisoner population today of around 85,000 (twice what it was 25 years ago), and reoffending rates as high as ever, Woolf last week called for a new inquiry into prisons and warned that Britain is again “heading for a crisis within prisons”. | Despite the lessons learned from Woolf’s seminal report into the riot, with a prisoner population today of around 85,000 (twice what it was 25 years ago), and reoffending rates as high as ever, Woolf last week called for a new inquiry into prisons and warned that Britain is again “heading for a crisis within prisons”. |
| Last year, 84 prisoners took their own lives, the highest number for seven years. There were close to 25,000 reported incidences of self-harm – an increase of more than 1,500. An upsurge in violence saw nearly 3,500 attacks on prison staff and almost 16,000 prisoner-on-prisoner assaults. And this month the Commons justice select committee published a damning report into prisons, noting that “incidences of concerted indiscipline” were up 100%. | Last year, 84 prisoners took their own lives, the highest number for seven years. There were close to 25,000 reported incidences of self-harm – an increase of more than 1,500. An upsurge in violence saw nearly 3,500 attacks on prison staff and almost 16,000 prisoner-on-prisoner assaults. And this month the Commons justice select committee published a damning report into prisons, noting that “incidences of concerted indiscipline” were up 100%. |
| So where has it all gone wrong? Woolf says his 1991 recommendations were based on the most comprehensive analysis of the prison system for over 100 years and that they were initially embraced by politicians. “Things were changing very much for the better,” he recalls. “But then there was a competition between different politicians to see who could sound the toughest on crime – and for that read prisoners. They concentrated on sounding tough and as a result forced themselves into a dead end where they couldn’t do the reforms they might otherwise have wanted to do. The resources were all being used to send more people to prison for longer.” | So where has it all gone wrong? Woolf says his 1991 recommendations were based on the most comprehensive analysis of the prison system for over 100 years and that they were initially embraced by politicians. “Things were changing very much for the better,” he recalls. “But then there was a competition between different politicians to see who could sound the toughest on crime – and for that read prisoners. They concentrated on sounding tough and as a result forced themselves into a dead end where they couldn’t do the reforms they might otherwise have wanted to do. The resources were all being used to send more people to prison for longer.” |
| My advice is to get prison sentences back into proportion and try and relieve the pressure on the system | |
| Is he disappointed that many of the recommendations, such as prisoners being held close to home and increased delegation of responsibility to individual prison governors, have all but been abandoned. “Naturally, I’m disappointed, but I think it’s much better to look forward than to look back,” he says. | Is he disappointed that many of the recommendations, such as prisoners being held close to home and increased delegation of responsibility to individual prison governors, have all but been abandoned. “Naturally, I’m disappointed, but I think it’s much better to look forward than to look back,” he says. |
| So, what does he think of this government’s transforming rehabilitation agenda, of privatising rehabilitative provision in prisons? “Although I’m worried by the way it’s being introduced and the speed with which it’s being introduced, I think the emphasis on rehabilitation is a new departure and that is so important,” he replies. But isn’t it the case that the government is talking rehabilitation but not doing it? “You’re quite right; they are talking it, and I agree they may be going down the wrong path,” he says. “When I did my report into the riots, I deliberately did not lay down rigid programmes, I gave what I called signposts, directions in which to go, because I thought there was then a real possibility for those who really knew what it was about to take things forward. For a time they did. If politics had not intervened we might be in a better place now” . | So, what does he think of this government’s transforming rehabilitation agenda, of privatising rehabilitative provision in prisons? “Although I’m worried by the way it’s being introduced and the speed with which it’s being introduced, I think the emphasis on rehabilitation is a new departure and that is so important,” he replies. But isn’t it the case that the government is talking rehabilitation but not doing it? “You’re quite right; they are talking it, and I agree they may be going down the wrong path,” he says. “When I did my report into the riots, I deliberately did not lay down rigid programmes, I gave what I called signposts, directions in which to go, because I thought there was then a real possibility for those who really knew what it was about to take things forward. For a time they did. If politics had not intervened we might be in a better place now” . |
| “What has gone wrong, I think, with the government is that they have been in too great a hurry. They feel that they knew what was needed. But I think they are very much in danger of going about it the wrong way.” | “What has gone wrong, I think, with the government is that they have been in too great a hurry. They feel that they knew what was needed. But I think they are very much in danger of going about it the wrong way.” |
| Related: Remember Strangeways, 1990? The bad old days of inhumane prisons are back | Eric Allison | |
| One of the Woolf recommendations was that prisons should be small – no more than 400 places. Or if the prisons were big, they should be divided into small units within the perimeter walls. How does he feel about the 2,200-place prison under construction in Wrexham? “I’m instinctively against Titan prisons,” he says, “but that is the path they are going down. I’ll try and encourage them to follow my signs on prison size.” | One of the Woolf recommendations was that prisons should be small – no more than 400 places. Or if the prisons were big, they should be divided into small units within the perimeter walls. How does he feel about the 2,200-place prison under construction in Wrexham? “I’m instinctively against Titan prisons,” he says, “but that is the path they are going down. I’ll try and encourage them to follow my signs on prison size.” |
| He is also concerned about staff shortages. Over the past four years prison officer numbers have been cut by a third. Now, the government is trying to entice many of the thousands of officers made redundant to come back. On any given day, hundreds of officers are being bussed around the country. Hotel bills of hundreds of pounds a week are being racked up for officers recruited in the north to work in prisons in the south. | He is also concerned about staff shortages. Over the past four years prison officer numbers have been cut by a third. Now, the government is trying to entice many of the thousands of officers made redundant to come back. On any given day, hundreds of officers are being bussed around the country. Hotel bills of hundreds of pounds a week are being racked up for officers recruited in the north to work in prisons in the south. |
| “It’s just bad management,” says Woolf. “They underestimated what they needed.” | “It’s just bad management,” says Woolf. “They underestimated what they needed.” |
| If the public knew the truth about the state of the prison system, does he think they would they be ashamed? “Ashamed is probably too much of an emotive word,” he says. “I would hope they’d be worried. These are Her Majesty’s prisons, prisoners have been sent their by the Queen’s courts. This is something that is right at the heart of our society.” | If the public knew the truth about the state of the prison system, does he think they would they be ashamed? “Ashamed is probably too much of an emotive word,” he says. “I would hope they’d be worried. These are Her Majesty’s prisons, prisoners have been sent their by the Queen’s courts. This is something that is right at the heart of our society.” |
| “Remember,” he says paraphrasing Winston Churchill, “the way we treat our prisoners reflects the standards of our society.” | “Remember,” he says paraphrasing Winston Churchill, “the way we treat our prisoners reflects the standards of our society.” |
| Asked if he believes that the justice secretary should be involved in directing the minutiae of prison life, dictating lights out time for young offenders for example, and interfering with the earned privileges system, he replies: “One of the main elements in my 1991 report was that there should be a relationship between the Prison Service and the minister where he lets his senior managers know what he wants and he lets them get on with it and doesn’t interfere. He’s unwise if he does because he just does not have the hands-on experience.” | Asked if he believes that the justice secretary should be involved in directing the minutiae of prison life, dictating lights out time for young offenders for example, and interfering with the earned privileges system, he replies: “One of the main elements in my 1991 report was that there should be a relationship between the Prison Service and the minister where he lets his senior managers know what he wants and he lets them get on with it and doesn’t interfere. He’s unwise if he does because he just does not have the hands-on experience.” |
| Woolf has some advice for the next government. “Well, we’ve had a long period of sentence inflation. My advice is to get sentences back into proportion and try and relieve the pressure on the system. Then, use the prison system only for those who need to be there. Recognise that if you are going to achieve anything, you’ve got to have a system which provides a seamless provision of support to those who need it when they are in prison and when they come out so that those who want to make it will have a chance of doing so. | Woolf has some advice for the next government. “Well, we’ve had a long period of sentence inflation. My advice is to get sentences back into proportion and try and relieve the pressure on the system. Then, use the prison system only for those who need to be there. Recognise that if you are going to achieve anything, you’ve got to have a system which provides a seamless provision of support to those who need it when they are in prison and when they come out so that those who want to make it will have a chance of doing so. |
| “Show the public it works, not by making ginormous changes all at the one time, as we are at present, but by doing it in stages. Take advice from so many of the wise people who have studied the system, who know the system, who work in the system.” | “Show the public it works, not by making ginormous changes all at the one time, as we are at present, but by doing it in stages. Take advice from so many of the wise people who have studied the system, who know the system, who work in the system.” |
| And the future? “We have an opportunity now for someone younger than me, with more energy to do a completely new review of the system,” he says. “You’ve got to be hopeful,” he adds.“What’s the point of being otherwise. We are where we are. We’ve got to get to a better place. | |
| Curriculum vitae | Curriculum vitae |
| Age: 82. | Age: 82. |
| Lives: London. | Lives: London. |
| Marital status: Married, three sons. | Marital status: Married, three sons. |
| Education: Fettes College, Edinburgh; University College London, law degree. | Education: Fettes College, Edinburgh; University College London, law degree. |
| Career 1996-present: president, supreme judicial courts, EU mediation and financial markets law committee; 2006-12: first president, Qatar Financial Centre Civil and Commercial Court; 2004-13: chancellor, Open University of Israel; 2003-12: non-permanent judge, Hong Kong court of final appeal; 2006-9: chair, Bank of England financial markets law committee; 2005-7: chair, UCL council; 2000-5: Lord chief justice, England and Wales; 1996-2000: master of the rolls; 1992-96: lord of appeal in ordinary; 1986-92: lord justice of appeal; 1981-84: presiding judge, south-eastern circuit; 1979-86: high court judge; 1973-4: junior counsel, Inland Revenue; 1972-79: recorder; 1976: bencher; 1955: called to the bar. | Career 1996-present: president, supreme judicial courts, EU mediation and financial markets law committee; 2006-12: first president, Qatar Financial Centre Civil and Commercial Court; 2004-13: chancellor, Open University of Israel; 2003-12: non-permanent judge, Hong Kong court of final appeal; 2006-9: chair, Bank of England financial markets law committee; 2005-7: chair, UCL council; 2000-5: Lord chief justice, England and Wales; 1996-2000: master of the rolls; 1992-96: lord of appeal in ordinary; 1986-92: lord justice of appeal; 1981-84: presiding judge, south-eastern circuit; 1979-86: high court judge; 1973-4: junior counsel, Inland Revenue; 1972-79: recorder; 1976: bencher; 1955: called to the bar. |
| Public life: Chair, Prison Reform Trust; patron, the Butler Trust; fellow of the British Academy; 1992, life peerage. | Public life: Chair, Prison Reform Trust; patron, the Butler Trust; fellow of the British Academy; 1992, life peerage. |
| Interests: Travel and the arts. | Interests: Travel and the arts. |
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