Another HMPPS Backwards Step

Probation should not be part of HMPPS and here's another reason why. Just caught up with this from Insidetime:- 

Double podding!

Game changing’ proposals condemned by prison reform groups as ‘panic measures’ and ‘terrible step backwards’

Portable single cells being used to provide extra accommodation during the pandemic may be “doubled up” with bunk beds to cope with surging prisoner numbers.

Since the first wave of Covid-19 struck last year, the Ministry of Justice has installed more than 1,000 temporary units – known as “pods” – in the grounds of English and Welsh jails to reduce cell-sharing. So far there has been only one occupant per pod. Each has a single bed, toilet and shower, and they have generally proved popular. However, it has now emerged that the Prison Service is prepared to make prisoners share pods, if necessary, to meet population pressures.

A spokesperson told Inside Time that around half of the 1,070 units currently in use at 31 jails “can be converted into doubles with the use of a bunk for two occupants”. The spokesman added that “double occupancy is viewed as being a contingency only” and would require the governor’s approval.

The plan drew immediate criticism from prison reform charities. Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, called it a “panic measure” and said: “They are completely inappropriate to put two people in. That’s ridiculous.”

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “Time and again, new single cells, designed and built for one person, are doubled up. Decent accommodation is made indecent. It would be a terrible step backwards if that now happened with cells bought explicitly to eliminate the need to share.”

The scheme came to light when GFSL, the Government-owned maintenance contractor, announced last month that it had installed 80 pods at HMP Ford – which it described as 40 singles and 40 doubles, claiming they would soon be occupied by 120 men. The MoJ later clarified that all 80 would start off in single-occupancy use, but confirmed that 40 could hold two men in the future. It was unable to say how much size difference there is between pods that are considered suitable for doubling-up and those that are seen as too small.

The pods installed so far, known as Temporary Accommodation Units, were announced as single-occupancy cells to reduce virus transmission and were obtained “off the shelf” from portable building suppliers – the majority from hire firm Bunkabin.

Looking beyond the pandemic, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has announced plans for a further 1,000 portable units to increase prison capacity. These will be known as Rapid Deployment Cells and will be custom-designed for the Prison Service to a higher security standard.

The MoJ spokesperson said it had not yet been decided if the Rapid Deployment Cells would be singles or doubles. If they are doubles, then by next year there could be 2,000 portable cells in total, holding up to 3,500 prisoners.

Prisoner numbers are expected to surge over the next few years as courts recover from the coronavirus pandemic, extra police officers make more arrests, and the effects of longer sentences start to be felt. MoJ forecasts last year show the prison population increasing by around 20,000 over the next five years. The Government is spending £4 billion building 18,000 extra places, but with sites not yet confirmed for several of the new jails there are doubts over whether their construction will be completed in time.

Antonia Romeo, Permanent Secretary at the MoJ, told a Parliamentary committee the Rapid Deployment Cells would be a “game changer” in ensuring there were enough places.