division_name: Opposition Day &#8212; Prisons
motion: <p class="indent" pid="c303.3/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House notes with concern recent serious disturbances at Swaleside, Birmingham, Lewes, Bedford and Moorlands prisons against the backdrop of a reduction of more than 6,000 frontline prison officers since 2010; notes that a planned recruitment drive has a target of hiring fewer than half the number of officers lost, and that previous recruitment drives have failed to achieve their targets; recognises that violence in prisons is at record levels with assaults up by 34 per cent since 2015, assaults on staff up by  43 per cent since 2015, and more than 60 per cent of prisons currently overcrowded; and calls on the Government to reduce overcrowding and improve safety while still ensuring that those people who should be in prison are in prison.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c303.3/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The inescapable conclusion is that the prison system in this country&#8230;is not working, contrary to the famous pronouncement of the noble Lord Howard.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2017-01-27">27 January</phrase> 2016; Vol. 605, c. 333.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c307.3/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The prison population is very, very high at the moment. Whether it will continue to rise is always difficult to tell, but there are worries that it will. I am not sure that at the end of the day we can&#8217;t dispose of more by really tough&#8212;and I do mean tough&#8212;community penalties.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c309.7/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;in today&#8217;s economy, gaining meaningful employment depends on more than just the ability to read and write. If the government is serious about lowering reoffending, it needs to equip people in prison with the attitudes and aspirations&#8221;&#8212;[Interruption.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c310.5/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;seeking the details of all those cases to see whether there is a pattern&#8221;.&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2017-01-24">24 January</phrase> 2017; Vol. 620, c. 156.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c310.5/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;should never have been in prison in the first place. His death was entirely preventable.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c311.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;welcomes the Government&#8217;s comprehensive proposals for major reform of the prison system set out in the White Paper; further welcomes plans for an extra 2,500 prison officers, to professionalise the prison service further and to attract new talent by recruiting prison officer apprentices, graduates and former armed service personnel; notes new security measures being introduced to tackle the illegal use of drones, phones and drugs which are undermining the stability of the prison system; welcomes the commitment to give governors in all prisons more powers and more responsibility to deliver reform whilst holding them to account for the progress prisoners make; and welcomes the Government&#8217;s proposals to set out for the first time the purpose of prisons in statute.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c319.2/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;almost half of prisoners commit another crime within a year of release&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c319.2/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;What is clear is that the system is not working.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c324.2/10" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;unleash competition between governors, prisons and probation and between prison, probation and the police. It is a competitive environment. There are pros and cons to that, but it is likely to drive up cost overall.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c330.0/10" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;reduce overcrowding and improve safety while still ensuring that those people who should be in prison are in prison&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c331.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;safe and well-ordered establishments in which we treat prisoners humanely, decently and lawfully.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c332.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;everyone keeps going and coming back in on these recalls with more drugs.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c339.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Guys Marsh has been made a priority prison, which means that the governor is getting extra resource, in addition to our national campaign effort, to recruit the staff he needs.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2017-01-24">24 January</phrase> 2017; Vol. 620, c. 147.]</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="c351.3/6" pwmotiontext="yes">The House divided:</p>
  
  <p pid="c351.3/7" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 196, Noes 289.</p>