Owers in line for more powers

17 Jul 03
The chief inspector of prisons could soon be granted powers to scrutinise the wider Prison Service in an attempt to prevent the current 'crises' within the sector from exploding. In an interview with Public Finance , Anne Owers, head of the pri.

18 July 2003

The chief inspector of prisons could soon be granted powers to scrutinise the wider Prison Service in an attempt to prevent the current 'crises' within the sector from exploding.

In an interview with Public Finance, Anne Owers, head of the prisons inspectorate, said that expanding her scrutiny powers could help move the sector away from 'crisis management' following a decade in which the number of inmates has risen rapidly.

Owers revealed she is discussing the possibility with ministers but acknowledges there may be stumbling blocks.

Until now, the watchdog has focused solely on conditions at prisons and not on the wider service, which is responsible for implementing the Home Office's penal policy.

Owers told PF: 'It is possible that our remit may be extended to include the service as a whole. [Then] we could focus on some of the systemic things that cause some of the problems we see in prisons over and over again.' Owers cited widely varying management cultures as one such problem.

She described a recent meeting with ministers as 'sympathetic' and claimed the discussions were 'moving in the right direction'.

An expansion of the inspectorate's powers has been on the cards for some time, as Home Secretary David Blunkett seeks 'joined-up' solutions to problems, involving the department, the Prison Service, the Probation Service, watchdogs and the courts.

In recent months, Owers has published a string of scathing prison studies, citing 'degrading' conditions such as overcrowded cells, unhygienic facilities and a lack of resources. Prisoner suicides have risen sharply.

Martin Narey, the Home Office's commissioner for correctional services, this week confirmed that the prison population will top 80,000 by 2006. Other estimates have claimed the figure will hit 110,000 by 2010. That compares with just 42,000 in 1990.

With overcrowding rife, Owers believes there could soon be a legal challenge to the Prison Service's treatment of some inmates under Article 3 of the European Union's Human Rights Act, which deals with decency thresholds.

'I think there are circumstances now in which individual cases do raise questions under Article 3.' She added: 'It would be for a court to decide if the threshold has been breached, but as overcrowding gets more extreme, we get closer to that threshold.'


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