PPO publishes Annual Report 2014-15

Earlier today, the Secretary of State for Justice laid the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s Annual Report 2014-15 before Parliament, charting PPO’s operational and financial performance for the previous year.

In his report, the Ombudsman, Nigel Newcomen CBE, draws attention to a number of key issues:

There were 76 self-inflicted deaths in 2014–15, mercifully a 16% decrease from the previous year, but still 38% higher than in 2012-13; it is pleasing, therefore, to report that the review of the Prison Service’s suicide and self-harm prevention (ACCT) procedures, called for in last year’s annual report, has begun.

The overall number of deaths in custody rose by 5%. This was driven by a 15% rise in deaths from natural causes. This largely reflects the rapidly ageing prison population. It is remarkable that the fastest growing segment of the prison population is prisoners over 60 and the second fastest is prisoners over 50. This has meant that prisons designed for fit young men must increasingly adjust to the roles of care home and even hospice.

The challenges facing the prison system have not gone away. The prison population remains proportionally the highest in Western Europe, while efficiencies and recruitment and retention issues have significantly reduced the number of available staff. As a result, prison regimes have had to be curtailed and crowding is commonplace. With prisoner litigation curtailed by reductions in legal aid, the importance of being able to complain to an independent Ombudsman is perhaps more important than ever.

Download the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s Annual Report 2014-15.

Download the official news release.