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Prisons these days… they’re like, well, prisons

Rising blood pressure limits me to no more than two Daily Mails a week. It’s an entertaining read but there’s always something in there to get your blood boiling.

I thought it was high time I investigated the oft-repeated claims that prisons are like holiday camps, so I contacted the Governor of Armley prison and asked if I could meet him for a chat and to have a tour of the prison.

Governor Rob Kellett is a no nonsense sort of man. He seemed to relish the questions I threw at him.

“Why are prisoners paid more to peel spuds than to study for a qualification which could help them get a job?”

“How can you possibly have drug addicts getting fixes in a secure prison?”

“Are prisoners allowed mobile phones?”

“Do you make drug addicted prisoners go cold turkey and if you do, can they then sue you?”

“Why do prisoners have TV sets in their cells?”

I suspect he’d answered these questions a thousand times and his answers were in the main reassuring.

I then received a tour around the prison from an operational manager, Mark Hudson. Mark was clearly very well respected by the prisoners and mused that in 22 years he and his family hadn’t ever been threatened, whilst his wife often had to handle far more violent and aggressive situations. She was, after all, a school teacher.

So what of the usual claims in the press? “Prison cells are the lap of luxury with all mod cons”. The reality is a little different. Imagine your bathroom. Make it a bit smaller and scruffier. Add in a bunk bed where the bath would be and a tiny window. Add 2 prisoners and lock the door for up to 23 hours a day. Prisoners eat in their cell, go to the toilet in front of each other in the cell. They do have a small travel kettle to stop requests to leave cells for a drink. They also have a tiny TV with channels 1-5. Why the TV? Well it’s the one privilege which focuses prisoners’ minds. Misbehave and the TV goes, leaving them with 23 hours in their cell with no distraction. TVs keep order in the prison.

Armley has a constant challenge in cracking down on drugs. Relatives of criminals find ever more ingenious ways to smuggle in drugs and mobile phones – methods which are, frankly, unprintable. This year the prison is suffering a budget cut of £900,000 whilst simultaneously preparing to re-open a wing. The effect stretches staff thinner, especially as Armley will be running at maximum capacity for the foreseeable future. The density of prisoners in wings is higher now than when the prison was opened in 1847.

So what of rehabilitation? Well some prisoners I talked to implied the experience had made them want to go straight, but others had been back in several times – they had low life expectations and accepted prison as a way of life. At least whilst ever those people are in Armley they aren’t outside ruining law abiding people’s lives. There are opportunities to study and there are numerous charities and organisations trying to help rehabilitate prisoners who wish to be helped. Some never will though, and re-offending rates are high.

So is Armley a holiday camp? No. Any regular person finding themselves there would fall to pieces. It’s a tough place and it is punishment. Reassuring for those of us who feel that prison shouldn’t be a holiday camp.

All the best

Matthew Lobley

Roundhay ward Conservative Councillor

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