What is the point of government inspections? Why waste money on them? Not that there’s anything wrong with inspectors. They often expose dreadful goings on in various institutions, but our governments take not a blind bit of notice. We have had some top notch inspectors of prisons: diligent, scrupulous, forthright, outraged, but have our prisons improved? No. They seem to have got even worse.
Last week the latest chief inspector, Peter Clarke, produced a grim report, describing a “staggering rise” in violence in youth jails in England and Wales, – none of those inspected in 2017 were deemed safe. Reforms, says Clarke, are “a matter of urgency”.
Nothing new there then. Reforms were urgent when Judge Stephen Tumin, chief inspector from 1987-1995, complained of the “grim environment”, “filthy corridors” and “damaged children picking up further criminal habits” in young offenders’ institutions. And, in 1992 Tumin “deplored … arrangements for the mother and baby unit” in Holloway, housed in a “cockroach-infested semi-basement, looking on to a dirty yard”.
How disappointing then, to hear in 1995 that the excellent chief inspector Sir David Ramsbotham and his team were “shocked by appalling living conditions and a harsh security regime” still flourishing in Holloway.
Rosemary knew Ramsbotham was spot on, because she worked in Holloway as a bereavement therapist with young women back then, and very hard work it was too. Not enough staff to escort the prisoners to sessions, harsh treatment, 23 hours a day lock-up, 14 suicides in one year, she says. But her group sessions seemed to help these women, until Rosemary was dismissed and another larger outfit took over, using a cheaper method.
Ramsbotham, who thought too many women were imprisoned for minor offences, fought so hard to improve prison conditions, and who Rosemary and I so admired, was forced to retire in 2001 by the Labour government. Jack Straw apparently wasn’t thrilled by his revelations. So I now suspect that the purpose of inspections is only to make governments look as if they give a toss, and might do something about the rotten state of prisons, schools, and now housing. So don’t hold your breath.
