Will our rat-infested prisons forever be a low priority?

Appalling conditions in English and Welsh prisons have been caused by years of underfunding, mismanagement and neglect, according to Elisabeth Davies, the national chair of the Independent Monitoring Boards.

- JOHN RENTOUL

Vermin infestations are an acute issue” across the prison estate, and prisoners have been bitten by rats and venomous spiders.

She says: “Decades of underinvestment in the fabric of the prison estate has eaten away at the infrastructure and equipment of prisons, stripping away much of the estate’s resilience.”

With an echo of Keir Starmer’s warning against “sticking-plaster politics”, she puts pressure on the prime minister in her report, which draws on inspections of prisons across the country: “This report highlights the consequences of underinvestment and sticking-plaster solutions. It should serve as a warning against continuing down these paths.”

Does anybody care?

Prisons are always going to be a low priority in surveys of public opinion, but crises force governments to act. The current overcrowding and shortage of prison places has forced Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, to activate emergency plans to release some prisoners after they have served 40 per cent of their sentences instead of 50 per cent.