Prison: the FACTS
Each year the Prison Reform Trust publishes 'Prison: the facts' (latest Summer 2022), a summary of Prisons in England and Wales and the people in them.
Below, a few of their findings: 

​SENTENCING AND THE USE OF CUSTODY
​Scotland and England and Wales have the highest imprisonment rates in western Europe

The prison population has risen by 70% in the last 30 years—and it is currently projected to rise by a further 18,000 people by 2026.
In England and Wales, we overuse prison for petty and persistent crime. In 2021, despite the pandemic, 42,000 people were sent to prison to serve a sentence
The majority (61%) had committed a non-violent offence
Nearly two in five were sentenced to serve six months or less
Fewer than one in 10 people surveyed said that having more people in prison was the most effective way to deal with crime. Early intervention, such as better parenting, discipline in schools and better rehabilitation, were all rated as more effective responses
More than four in 10 adults (44%) are reconvicted of another offence within one year of release
Anyone leaving custody who has served two days or more is now required to serve a minimum of 12 months under supervision in the community.
As a result, the number of people recalled back to custody has increased, particularly amongst women. 7,006 people serving a sentence of less than 12 months were recalled to prison in the year to December 2021

COVID
The Covid-19 pandemic has created major disruption in the normal running of the prison system. This has led to urgent changes to prison regimes in order to prevent transmission and protect health. While the outside world might have moved on from the pandemic, Covid-19 still looms large in prison. Time out of cell in general has not recovered to anywhere near pre-pandemic levels and levels of purposeful activity are also very low
From mid-March 2020 until around February 2021 almost all people in prison in the UK spent 23 hours or more out of every day locked in a cell, typically around 3m by 2m in size. Two-thirds of them have been in conditions that amount to solitary confinement, the other third are sharing a cell, or in dormitory accommodation

LOCKDOWNS
Inspectors found all people in prison confined to their cell for 23 hours or more a day following the introduction of regime restrictions. Most people in local and high security prisons were allowed 30 minutes a day to shower and exercise
Lockdowns and restrictions have endured far longer in prison than they have in the outside community
A joint inspectorate report released in May 2022 found that recovery in prisons has generally been slow and inconsistent, with little progress made to improve time out of cell, which is far below prepandemic levels
Over two out of five (44%) survey participants reported experiencing thoughts that they would “be better off dead” or considered hurting themselves in the preceding two weeks. Almost one in five (19%) reported experiencing these thoughts every day

BACKLOGS
Before Covid-19 restrictions were introduced there was a backlog of around 40,000 cases in the Crown Court and nearly 328,000 cases in the magistrates’ courts. By 31 December 2021 these backlogs had increased by 43% and 10%, respectively
In the Crown Courts, where the most serious cases are held, waiting times have continued to rise almost uninterrupted since March 2020. Defendants in the Crown Court are waiting 20 months on average for their trial to begin than they were before the pandemic, a rise of 79%

SAFETY
Safety in prisons has deteriorated rapidly during the last nine years. However, the pandemic and associated regime has muddled the picture. In the last year recorded assaults have fallen; and recorded self-harm has decreased slightly but remains close to historically high levels
287 People died in prison in the year to March 2022
Women account for a disproportionate number of self-harm incidents in prison—despite making up only 4% of the total prison population
The government has committed to building 20,000 new prison places by the mid-2020s. But published details of what is being built and when are both unclear and confusing

COSTS & STAFFING
The cost of a prison place reduced by 13% in real terms between 2009–10 and 2020–21. The average annual overall cost of a prison place in England and Wales is now £48,162
The number of frontline operational prison staff (bands 3–5) was cut by 26% between 2010–2017
Staff retention remains a problem—Half of officers (50%) who left the service last year had been in the role for less than three years, more than a quarter (26%) left after less than a year

REMAND
People remanded to custody to await trial are innocent until proven guilty. 27,660 people were sent to prison before their trial in 2021—down by nearly a fifth (19%) in five years
Despite this, on 30 June 2021 there were 12,727 people in prison on remand, an increase of more than a third (39%) in two years. This is the highest number of people since 2010, in part due to the impact of the pandemic on the courts. Before 2020 the number had been largely decreasing over the previous decade
More than half (56%) of people entering prison on remand in 2021 awaiting trial are accused of nonviolent offences—22% of drug offences and 13% of summary non-motoring offences
One in 10 people (10%) remanded into custody by the magistrates’ courts in 2021 were subsequently acquitted
More than third (37%) of self-inflicted deaths in 2021 involved people held on remand—far higher than the proportion of the prison population they represent (16%)

BLACK, ASIAN AND MINORITY ETHNIC PEOPLE IN PRISON
Over a quarter (27%) of the prison population, 21,804 people, are from a minority ethnic group. The largest minority ethnic groups are Black or Black British (13%), followed by Asian or Asian British (8%), Mixed (5%) and other ethnic groups (2%)
Black and Asian people in prison are more likely to be serving long sentences than other groups. 17% of people in prison on a life sentence identify as black, and 8% as Asian. 15% of people serving a determinate sentence of over 20 years identify as black, and 12% as Asian
The number of Muslim prisoners is now two and a half times higher than in 2002
Only 159 people, 1% of Muslims in prison, are currently there for Islamist extremist terrorism related offences
5% of men and 7% of women in prison said that they are Gypsy, Roma or Traveller, compared to an estimated 0.1% of the general population in England

OLDER PEOPLE
More than one in six people (17%) in prison are aged 50 or over—13,659 people. Of these, 3,561 are in their 60s and a further 1,699 people are 70 or older
44% of men in prison aged over 50 have been convicted of sex offences. The next highest offence category is violence against the person (25%) followed by drug offences (8%)
331 people in prison were aged 80 or over as of 31 December 2021. 329 were men and two were women

LIFE AND INDETERMINATE SENTENCES
Many people in prison don’t know when, or if, they might be released. 10,663 people are currently in prison serving an indeterminate sentence—16% of the sentenced prison population, up from 9% in 1993
Despite its abolition in 2012, almost all (96%) people still in prison serving an IPP sentence have passed their tariff expiry date—the minimum period they must spend in custody and considered necessary to serve as punishment for the offence
7,056 people are currently in prison serving a life sentence
There are currently 64 people serving a whole life sentence—they are unlikely to ever be released

PEOPLE WITH NEURODIVERGENT CONDITIONS
A recent joint review by criminal justice inspectorates estimates that around half of those entering prison have some form of neurodivergent condition which impacts their ability to engage
Around three in 10 people (29%) who chose to participate in education in prison were identified as having a learning disability or difficulty following assessment in 2019–20.72 Despite this, the Offender Assessment System (OASys) only records 924 prisoners (1%) as having a learning disability
A study has estimated that a quarter (25%) of people in prison have an attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), around one in 10 (9%) have an autism spectrum disorder, and around one in 10 (9%) have an intellectual disability

WOMEN IN PRISON
Women make up only 4% of the total prison population
Most women (68%) in 2021 who entered prison under sentence committed a non-violent offence
More women were sent to prison to serve a sentence in 2021 for theft than for robbery, sexual offences, drugs, possession of weapons and motoring offences combined
Half of women (50%) left prison without settled accommodation in 2020–21

MENTAL HEALTH
More than half (52%) of people in prison surveyed by inspectors between 1 July 2020 and 31 March 2021 reported having mental health problems
Seven in 10 women in prison (71%) reported that they had mental health issues compared with less than half of men (47%)
70% of people who died from self-inflicted means whilst in prison had already been identified with mental health needs

REHABILITATION
Prison education in England is in a poor state according to a cross-party committee of MPs
In December 2020, Ofsted reported that nearly two-thirds of inspections showed poor management of the quality of education, skills and work
There has been a marked decline in the number of adult prisoners in England participating in educational qualifications. In the 2017/18 academic year, 31,700 prisoners participated in level 2 courses (equivalent to GCSE), and just 200 participated in a level 3 course (equivalent to AS-levels and above). This was an 18% and 90% decrease, respectively, compared to the 2010/11 academic year

EMPLOYMENT
Just one in six (16%) of people are in employment six weeks after leaving prison. After six months, the figure rises to fewer than one in four (23%). Although both figures are low, they represent a rise from the previous year from 10% and 14%, respectively

ACCOMMODATION
Only slightly more than half (56%) of people released from prison between March 2020–21, 30,220 people, had settled accommodation on release