Overwhelming levels of smuggled drugs destabilising prisons, watchdog warns
The overwhelming amount of drugs being smuggled into jails is destabilising prisons and preventing work to stop re-offending, a watchdog has warned as it urged the Government to take the threat seriously.
Criminal gangs are often using sophisticated drones to target jails and sell contraband to bored and vulnerable inmates, according to the chief inspector of prisons’ annual report.
Charlie Taylor previously warned that drones dropping drugs at high-security jails HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin was a “threat to national security”, and he repeated calls on Tuesday (July 8) for the threat to be taken seriously “at the highest levels of Government”.
The watchdog boss said: “This has been another very difficult year for prisons in England and Wales with the ingress of contraband delivered by drones severely impacting the essential work that many have been able to do with prisoners.
“The challenge for the prison service must be to work in conjunction with the police and security services to manage prisoners associated with organised crime. This is a threat that needs to be taken seriously at the highest levels of Government.
“Only when drugs are kept out, and prisoners are involved in genuinely purposeful activity that will help them to get work and resettle successfully on release, can we expect to see prisons rehabilitate rather than just contain the men and women they hold.”
Some 39 per cent of respondents to prisoner surveys said it was easy to get drugs in prison, and inspectors regularly visited prisons where the recorded rate of positive random drug tests was more than 30 per cent.
The report said in many jails there were “seemingly uncontrollable levels of criminality” that often inexperienced staff were unable to contain.
It also found it “unsurprising” that national rates of violence increased last year and that violence destroys trust between staff and prisoners, making the chance of rehabilitation unlikely.
Last month, the Independent Monitoring Board’s annual report on prisons found violence remained “excessively high”, which was driven by overcrowding, inadequate mental health support and a surge in drug use.
Mr Taylor’s report also found overcrowding and lack of activity caused frustration among prisoners which fuelled the demand for drugs, with many spending most of the day in cramped, shared cells with broken furniture and vermin.
Overcrowding also meant there were not enough places for every prisoner to take part in work or education while in custody, but even when there were spaces available inspectors found underused workshops because of staff shortages.
Purposeful activity was the worst performing assessment category by inspectors, with 28 out of 38 adult prisons visited deemed to be ‘poor’ or ‘not sufficiently good’ in this area.
The findings reviewed from April 2024 to March 2025 come as ministers grapple with overcrowding and high-profile security incidents in jails.
The Government approved the use of protective body armour for prison staff in high security areas, after four prison officers were attacked with hot oil and homemade weapons by Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi at HMP Frankland in April.
Ministers have also vowed to create 14,000 new prison places by 2031 and have accepted recommendations from the independent sentencing review to curb overcrowding in the long-term.
This includes changes where prisoners could be released earlier for good behaviour or kept in longer if they do not comply with prison rules.
Emergency measures such as releasing some criminals on recall earlier or at an earlier point in their sentences have also been used to “buy time” before the reforms are expected to take effect next spring.
Responding to the prison watchdog’s annual report, Andrea Coomber KC, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “This report is a checklist for all the reasons the Government must prioritise reducing prison numbers, urgently.
“Sentencing reform is essential, and sensible steps to reduce the prison population would save lives, protect staff, and help more people to move on from crime.”
Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, also said the report paints a sadly familiar picture of a prison system in deep crisis, which is not only a prison problem but a “public safety issue”.
“Prisons should be places of rehabilitation, not warehouses of despair,” she said.
“The fact that even training prisons are failing to deliver basic education and skills is a damning indictment of a system that is failing both prisoners and the public.
“The Government’s reforms, including the Sentencing Review and early release schemes, are a necessary step in the right direction — but must be matched by urgent investment in staff, safety, and purposeful activity.”
The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.
