Poor treatment of remand prisoners

Many remand prisoners in England and Wales had a poorer regime and less support than sentenced prisoners, said Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons, publishing a short thematic review.

This is despite a long-established principle that remand prisoners, who have not been convicted or sentenced by a court, have rights and entitlements not available to sentenced prisoners.

At any one time, remand prisoners make up about 15% of the prison population, between 12,000 to 13,000 prisoners. Women and those from black and minority ethnic and foreign national backgrounds are over-represented.

This review, Remand Prisoners, examines the experience of young adult and adult remand (unconvicted and convicted unsentenced) prisoners in local prisons against the Inspectorate’s four health prison tests: safety, respect, purposeful activity and resettlement.

The report found that:

• remand prisoners are at an increased risk of suicide and self-harm and nearly a quarter said they had felt depressed or suicidal when they arrived at prison;
• a third or more said they had a drug or mental health problem;
• problems on arrival were exacerbated among women, with a higher self-reported incidence of housing problems, money worries and health concerns;
• women were more likely to report problems with ensuring dependants were being looked after; and
• remand prisoners showed little awareness of support services available at the prison and, while most had received an induction, many felt they had been given too much information to absorb at a turbulent time.

Nick Hardwick said:

'The specific circumstances and needs of remanded prisoners need to be much more clearly and consistently recognised so that they are held in custody for the shortest time possible and while there are given at least the same support as convicted and sentenced prisoners.'