richard ford

Former Home Correspondent

[richard ford @RFord4]

Evidence IMBs present year after year on prisons shows warnings are heard but too rarely acted upon resulting in system that absorbs criticism but fails to correct its course, says Jane Leech , interim national IMB chair.

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Without decisive shift away from denial, short-term fixes and rhetorical reassurance, prisons and YOIs will continue to deteriorate, not through sudden collapse, but through the steady normalisation of failure, says annual report of Independent Monitoring Boards.

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Romeo told Civil Service World that the National Offender Management Service had a business assurance board designed to “give me the senior responsible officer the assurance this is going to work and isn’t taking any unnecessary risk"

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In 2014 Ms Romeo said of the project:“My job as senior responsible officer is to make sure we deliver the benefits of the programme. We need to really understand what’s going on – and there are no prizes for not listening.”

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Antonia Romeo, tipped as next Cabinet
Secretary, was senior responsible officer for Transforming Rehabilitation which semi privatised probation service - later reversed after described as “irredeemably flawed”.

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A prisoner in Brixton jail observed it was ‘easier to get spice in here than to get paracetamol for a toothache’;another said that there were more drugs available on B wing than on the streets, Independent Monitoring Board report says.

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Independent Monitoring Board at Millsike jail which opened in March last year has written to prisons minister expressing “serious concerns” at impact of opening and early operation of the jail.

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Eight months after jail opened IMB members still see doors and gates being left open, and inconsistent gate securty at the Mitie run prison
.

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Roll checks at new Millsike jail in Yorkshire at times take 5 hours to complete resulting in men locked up for extended periods, late meals, missed healthcare appointments, work, education and visits, Independent Monitoring Board says.

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Charles Taylor,accuses prison service leaders of failings. “The appalling outcomes we found at Swaleside, holding some of the most dangerous men in the country, represent serious failings by leaders in the prison service to address the systemic problems at this troubled jail.”

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Charles Taylor, chief inspector of prisons , criticises leadership of prison system saying it was  “ shameful that such an important and risky prison (Swaleside
) had been left without a permanent governor for such a long period”.

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Swaleside prison was filthy, with widespread graffiti, fire damage, broken furniture, dilapidated flooring and mouldy showers, says inspection report

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Officers at Swaleside jail failing to impose order and control; many lacked experience and were burnt out and demoralised from constant high levels of violence, and chronic, long-term understaffing, report says.

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Drones, bringing in drugs and sometimes knives , exacerbating instability at Swaleside jail where there had not been a permanent governor for many months in 2024 and 2025, inspection report
says.

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Dangerously unsafe conditions for prisoners and staff at Swaleside prison leads to jail inspectorate demanding emergency government action .

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2025 Shabana Mahmood considers merging current 43 police forces in England and Wales into 12 regional forces.
2005 Charles Clarke announces plans to reduce number of police forces from
43 to around 12 after report says existing structure “no longer fit for purpose”.

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Albanians top of enforced returns on 2,481 followed by Romanians, Brazilians , Indians and Poles and Indians, Brazilians and Albanians accounted for half of voluntary returns, says Home Office.

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Enforced returns of migrants wit no right to be in UK rose by 22 per cent Sept 24 to
Sept 25 to 9,382 and voluntary returns by 7 per cent to 27,075, says Home Office

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At end of September 2025, 36,273 asylum seekers in hotels up
2 per cent on September 24 but 35 per cent lower than peak of 56,000 in September 2024, says Home Office.

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Nepal has replaced the United States in the top five nationalities granted student visas to come to UK, says Home Office