17/11/2025
Police Oracle
Prison overcrowding, staffing shortages and deteriorating infrastructure is having a ‘profound impact on the ability of prisons to deliver rehabilitation’, a new report published by the Justice Committee has said.
The report “Ending the cycle of reoffending – part one: rehabilitation in prisons” concludes that prisons are in a “state of disrepair”.
MPs on the cross-party committee called on the Government to set out how it will ensure that rehabilitation is not compromised or deprioritised, alongside how it intends to manage demand and supply. These ‘failures risk undermining the very purpose of imprisonment, to reduce reoffending’, the Committee warned.
80% of all offending in England and Wales is reoffending with ‘growing concerns about persistently high’ rates, the report cautioned, adding it is unacceptable that 50 per cent of prisoners are not involved in prison education or work, despite the high level of need across the adult estate.
The Committee stated it was shocked by the dire living conditions that many prisoners are living in and that it was deeply concerning to hear that prisons may be in violation of human rights legislation. Dilapidated buildings and broken infrastructure limit access to rehabilitative spaces and contribute to poor mental health.
Despite recent capital investment, it remains unclear how the Government intends to address the scale of the £1.8 billion maintenance backlog, the report said. It called on the Government to provide a clear breakdown of how funding will be used to address this backlog, and to ensure that future investment is targeted at improving prison conditions with access to rehabilitative activities in mind.
The report found a ‘widespread failure’ to meet the statutory minimum for time out of cell. Many prisoners are locked up for 22 hours or more each day, with limited access to fresh air, showers, or rehabilitative activities.
This lack of time out of cell undermines efforts to reduce reoffending and contributes to poor mental health and disengagement, it added. Purposeful activity, including education, work, and offending behaviour programmes, is central to rehabilitation, yet it is inconsistently delivered and often deprioritised – notably for IPP prisoners.
MPs called for a renewed focus on ensuring all prisoners have access to meaningful activity, and for time out of cell to be formalised, standardised, and its data to be published going forward.
HMPPS must closely monitor prisons that are failing to meet the statutory minimum and provide urgent support to enable compliance, the Committee added.
Staffing levels, high turnover, poor recruitment processes, and limited professional development have contributed to a culture that hinders rehabilitation, the report said.
The Committee recommended prison staff should receive training at least annually, with more frequent support as they progress through their careers. Governors lack the autonomy to lead effectively, and the current staffing model is unsustainable, MPs warned.
The Committee said it was ‘alarmed’ by reports of real-term cuts to prison education budgets of up to 50 per cent and urged the Government to clarify the rationale of any planned budget reductions.
It must set out how it plans to ensure that all prisons retain the funding necessary to deliver core education provision. The report concluded prison education is underfunded as is and poorly delivered, adding participation rates are low and neurodivergent prisoners are not adequately supported.
75 per cent of prisons inspected by Ofsted in 2024/25 were rated ‘inadequate’ or ‘showing no improvement’. The Government, MPs said, must publish a clear plan to improve both participation and quality in prison education.
This should include steps to address poor Ofsted outcomes, ensure that all prisoners, including those on remand, have access to meaningful education, and improve data collection on attendance and provision across the estate.
Education on the youth estate is also in a state of decline, the report concluded. Children in Youth Offending Institutions are entitled to 15 hours of education per week, yet the Committee heard that this minimum is routinely not met.
The report called on the MoJ to set out how it will address the operational barriers to education delivery, including staffing, behaviour management, and keep apart arrangements and ensure that education is prioritised as a core component of the youth custody regime.
Despite comprising 20 per cent of the prison population, the highest level in at least 50 years, remand prisoners often spend extended periods in custody, only to be released directly from court following a conviction without any support or intervention.
This raises serious concerns about how the Government expects these individuals to avoid reoffending. Remand prisoners should have access to all parts of the regime, should they choose to participate, MPs recommended.
Current contracting and the procurement system within HMPPS is inefficient, the report warned. Poorly designed and inflexible contracts are limiting the ability of voluntary and specialist providers to deliver effective rehabilitation services.
The system is not fit for purpose and risks undermining both prison management and rehabilitative outcomes. MPs called on the Government to provide the Committee with a clear and comprehensive overview of how HMPPS is managing its current contracts, including steps being taken to simplify procurement processes and improve contract flexibility.
Governors should receive training on procurement and contracting, the Committee added.