Committee publication · Correspondence · 14 July 2026
Correspondence to The Rt Hon David Lammy MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, dated 9 July 2026: Independent Review of the Prison System
From: Justice Committee
Summary
The Justice Committee writes to the Lord Chancellor supporting the Independent Review of the Prison System led by Amber Rudd. The Committee draws attention to two of its recent reports highlighting systemic failures: rehabilitation is undermined by a £1.8 billion maintenance backlog and 22-hour cell confinement; and drugs have reached endemic levels with 39% of prisoners reporting easy access. The Committee urges the review to adopt its 58 recommendations, most of which the Government rejected.
Key findings
- A £1.8 billion maintenance backlog forces prison workshop closures and leaves a quarter of occupied places failing fire safety standards; widespread failure to meet statutory minimum time out of cell, with many prisoners locked up 22+ hours daily
- 39% of prisoners report easy access to illicit drugs; 46% at HMP Liverpool tested positive; 136 drug-related deaths in custody 2022–2024; sophisticated organised gangs use drones to deliver contraband to cell windows
- Government accepted only 10 of 29 rehabilitation recommendations and 8 of 29 drugs recommendations; 25% national reduction in core prison education budgets; frontline officer leaving rate 11.6% in 12 months to June 2025
- Contracting and procurement systems within HMPPS are unfit for purpose, limiting voluntary and specialist providers' ability to deliver rehabilitation; women prisoners (4% of population) have acute, unmet mental health and trauma-informed needs
- Prison overcrowding reduces access to purposeful activity, education, family contact, and mental health support while driving drug use; review should identify ways to stabilise and reduce overall prison population
Tone
CriticalTopics
Key actors
David Lammy MP (Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice), Amber Rudd (lead, Independent Review of the Prison System), Andy Slaughter MP (Chair, Justice Committee), HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Notable line
“39% of prisoners find it easy to get illicit drugs and that prisoners have a "menu of drugs" available to them .”
Key Quotes
“… population pressures have forced prisons to deprioritise core regime requirements, resulting in arbitrary prisoner transfers, disrupted sentence progression, and restricted access to purposeful activity.”
“Efforts to create a rehabilitative culture are severely hindered by a £1.8 billion maintenance backlog, which frequently forces the closure of vital prison workshops and has left a quarter of occupied prison places failing to meet fire safety standards.”
“Many prisoners are locked up for 22 hours or more each day, with limited access to fresh air, showers, or rehabilitative activities.”
“… the trade and use of illicit substances across the prison estate has reached endemic levels.”
“… a dramatic "paradigm shift" caused by drone incursions, which are increasingly being utilised by sophisticated organised criminal gangs to deliver large quantities of psychoactive substances, mobile phones, and potentially firearms directly to cell windows.”
“There has been a spike in drug-related deaths and life-threatening medical emergencies, with 136 deaths in prison custody between 2022 and 2024 being classified as drug- related - equivalent to 16% …”
“Women represent around 4% of the total prison population, yet they have acute health and trauma-informed needs that the current system fails to address.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗