The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, published today, addresses the prison cell crisis in the UK, highlighting huge government and organisational failures in managing prison capacity. We may be wary of the term, but it is yet another description of a system in crisis, with many prisoners stuffed into ‘inhumane conditions’, looked after by a battered and overwhelmed front line of officers, many of whom leave before they have finished their probation. This latest devastating critique focuses on a four-way car crash of broken promises, wild miscalculations, reactive mismanagement and the absence of solid planning.
The PAC is the group of cross-party MPs who scrutinise government spending. They predict that, despite hurried and risky mass prisoner releases brought in by the new Labour government last year, the system will be gridlocked again in 2026.
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