Philip Ingram MBE highlights the growing pressures on the UK prison system. 

We frequently hear Britain’s prison system stands at breaking point.

Doubled prison populations over three decades have pushed inmate numbers beyond 87,000, unleashing a wave of security challenges across England and Wales.  

Security breaches paint a grim picture – mandatory drug screenings at HMP Manchester reveal 39% of prisoners testing positive, while sophisticated drone operations threaten both HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin with payloads of up to 1.3kg in weapons and drugs.  

The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, has called for urgent action to tackle drones which are frequently bringing in drugs and weapons to prisons holding some of the most dangerous men in the country, including terrorists and organised crime bosses.  

The numbers behind the story 

Raw numbers tell only half the story.

HMP Manchester, notorious as one of Britain’s most violent facilities, crumbles under the weight of widespread dirt, damp walls and rodent infestations.

Prison authorities face mounting pressure from an 84% surge in remand prisoners since 2019, coupled with a 72% spike in prison recalls. Failing CCTV systems and compromised anti-drone defences leave these maximum-security facilities dangerously exposed.  

The state of security came to a head when last year Daniel Khalife sparked a UK-wide manhunt when he escaped from Wandsworth Prison, before being arrested three days later on a towpath in west London.

He had hidden under a food delivery truck and has just been sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison after being found guilty of spying for Iran and escaping from HMP Wandsworth.   

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service drowns in security failures according to the Ministry of Justices own statistics, – 2,152 data breaches in twelve months.

Yet only the most grievous cases reach the Information Commissioner’s desk. 

Staffing ratios 

Staffing ratios are creaking with more and more inexperienced new prison officers patrolling dangerous wings.

According to a Parliamentary Paper, ‘Prisons capacity and performance’, published at the end of last year, only 26% of prison staff bring decade-long experience to their roles.

High-security wings stretch officers thin – one guard watches five or six inmates, while lower-security facilities see ratios balloon to one officer per dozen prisoners, leading to reports of 15% more assaults.  

A staggering £1.8 billion maintenance backlog looms over the system, while 23,000 occupied cells breach basic fire safety standards.

Prison wings burst at their seams – 66% of establishments now house inmates beyond their Certified Normal Accommodation level.  

Government analysis has continued to highlight the growing technological threats with drone incursions having multiplied tenfold since 2020.

Prison wardens logged 1,063 incidents last year. Night-vision drones pierce prison defences with military precision.

These drones can haul payloads up to 7kg and drop their cargo straight through cell windows under darkness’s cloak. HMP Garth’s skies buzz so frequently that prisoners mock their wing as “an airport.”.  

Mobile phones flood prison wings – officers seized 12,000 devices across England and Wales between 2019 and 2020. Behind steel doors, these phones facilitate criminal empires.

Drug rings expand, witnesses face threats, and terrorist cells maintain their web of connections. Organised crime gangs are being run from behind bars.  

Fresh laws try to address the problem – January 2024 saw criminal penalties for drone flights within 400 metres of prison walls.

While some prisons deploy drone detection systems, few can stop the aerial invasion.  

Growing insider threats 

As well as external threats, insider threats are growing. According to data published by The Guardian after a Freedom of Information request, last year alone, 341 staff members faced dismissal, exclusion, conviction or police caution for betraying their uniform.  

Behind bars, crime thrives. One in thirteen prisoners pulls strings for organised gangs, weaving webs of influence through prison corridors.

These organised crime gang leaders’ prey on new inexperienced officers and those drowning in debt, often identifying and grooming vulnerable staff through social engineering.

The Ministry of Justice fights back through its Counter-Corruption Unit, hunting shadows of corruption before they spread.  

The understaffing, violence and threats takes its toll on staff retention with many recruits leaving within two years, increasing the pressure on an overburdened recruiting and training regime and increasing pressure on the staff who stay.

Technology is being introduced to try and ease the burden. The introduction of new technologies measured against the impacts them make on keeping prisons safer and more secure and impacting staff morale and retention is always a balancing act and is done prison by prison rather than through national policy and associated funding.   

Our prisons are crumbling, and threats are morphing faster than they can be countered. That is clear. British prisons stand at a crossroads.

While £1.8 billion in repairs cry for attention, tomorrow’s security demands its share of dwindling funds.

True safety demands both – cutting-edge systems watching over well-maintained walls, operated by officers who stay long enough to master their craft. 

It is time they were properly looked at and invested in as in their current state our prisons are ticking timebombs.   

This article was originally published in the March 2025 Edition of Security Journal UK. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.