WPIC Newsletter September 2026
Come to the next WPIC Meeting on 10 October 2026
Thank you to everyone who came to our last meeting on 27 June to hear from Tim Kerr of the Howard League. If you want to find out more about Wandsworth Prison or get more involved in the Wandsworth Prison Improvement Campaign come to our next meeting on Saturday 10 October 2026, 10am-1pm in the Wandsworth Quaker Meeting House, 59 Wandsworth High Street, SW18 2PT.
If you didn’t buy a Wandsworth Prison Welfare Trust mug at the last meeting, this is your opportunity.
Early release - some facts
The early release scheme, one of the Government’s policies to respond to the capacity crisis in our prisons, was one of the first issues to hit new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s desk. In response to public concern about the potential early release of some prisoners, the Prime Minister excluded some categories of crime from early release and pushed back the next wave of releases to the beginning of October. There is likely to be considerable public debate over the next few weeks about early release and our overcrowded prisons. Here are some useful facts in case you find yourself engaged in discussion:
The prison population in England and Wales is over 88,000. In 1991, it was around 40,000.
The average custodial sentence increased from 13.7 months to 19.9 months between 2010 and 2025
Community sentences fell by 51% between 2013 and 2023
Violent crime reduced between 2010 and 2025
Most of these facts are drawn from an excellent article by Kelly Grehan which argues that the problem is not the failure to build enough prison places but “penal populism” where politics demands punishment rather than rehabilitation to reduce crime.
A particular issue which has put more pressure on prison places is that an increasing number of people are being recalled to prison for failing to comply with their licence conditions:
For every ten prison beds freed by people being released, there were nine filled by someone recalled to custody in 2025/26
Over 51,000 people were recalled to prison in the year to March 2026, more than the 47,000 sent to prison following sentencing.
In the 1990s, only around 150 a year were recalled.
Between January and March this year, more people were recalled to prison than released.
Only 22% of recalls are due to further offending, most are a result of non-compliance such as failure to reside at a specified address or to attend probation meetings.
Nacro has just published a fact-filled report on recall which should be read by all politicians agonising about prison capacity. Amongst other recommendations, it says that reducing the number of people leaving prison homeless will help to reduce recalls.
Wandsworth Prison in the (good) news
Regular readers may remember that in an earlier newsletter we reported that during our last visit to Wandsworth Prison we saw the new Vanguard wing which is pioneering a different regime. As well as more time out of cell, the staff have been specially trained by Unlocked Graduates and have greater autonomy to deal with issues. We saw the Vanguard wing when it had been operating for only three months and initial signs were promising. The Wandsworth Prison Welfare Trust is providing craft materials for men on the Vanguard wing.
A recent article by Rachel Sylvester in The Observer on 8 August reported data from six months’ operation of the Vanguard wings at Wandsworth and Pentonville:
45% reduction in assaults
57% drop in self-harm
62% fall in disorder (compared with the rest of the prison)
Staff sickness days have halved
Staff retention rates are far higher (compared with the rest of the prison estate)
There are almost no drugs
This is really impressive. None of the prisoners have been specially selected for the wing. The difference is the staff.
WPIC has had a recent report from inside the prison which suggests that some of the benefits of the Vanguard wing (G wing) have rubbed off on the neighbouring H wing which we were told is peaceful and calm with the men out of their cells for 9 hours a day. There is a new kitchen on H wing where men can cook their own food. And at least one officer has reportedly become more friendly and approachable since moving to H wing. It appears that good things spread and good behaviour is infectious. We hope that the model can be rolled out to other wings in Wandsworth and to other prisons.
Glass half empty
Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) is a survey of prisoners’ perceptions carried out by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). It was originally developed and overseen by Professor Alison Liebling from Cambridge University but has since been taken in house by MOJ. Our review of Professor Liebling’s latest book describes how she has used the findings from many years of MQPL surveys to evidence the moral collapse of our prisons.
The latest MQPL survey was undertaken at Wandsworth in November 2025. WPIC obtained the results in June this year via a Freedom of Information request and you can read a summary on our website. As we reported at our last meeting, the results are disappointing and show very little improvement since the last survey was done in 2017. Prisoners’ overall perceptions of their treatment and quality of life at Wandsworth were generally more negative than across the 30 other reception prisons included in the survey:
Wandsworth scored most negatively on perceptions of an ordered regime, with prisoners describing the regime as disorganised, unpredictable and poorly communicated. 74% said there is not enough structure. 89% said prisoners spend too long locked up.
Prisoners in Wandsworth felt less able to keep themselves and their living spaces clean than in other prisons
Perceptions of harmony with staff and staff use of authority/incentives were notably more negative than the average for other similar prisons. Only 17% trusted officers and only 18% felt privileges were distributed fairly.
We raised the poor results with the Governor, Andy Davy, who said he was saddened, as he gets regular positive feedback from the men about improvements in the prison. He pointed out that only 86 men in Wandsworth completed the survey (5-6% of the prison population). We do not know how the response rate for Wandsworth compared with other similar prisons. The Governor has also told us that new staff training has been introduced since the survey was undertaken. And of course, the new approach in the Vanguard wing (see above) only began as the survey was taking place. Nevertheless, the survey is a useful insight into the experiences of many men in Wandsworth.
The next HMIP inspection of Wandsworth (expected before the end of this year), which will include an updated prisoner survey, should provide a comparison with the state of the prison at the time of the 2024 inspection and the Urgent Notification and therefore give an indication of progress made over the last two years.
Where’s the money?
After Wandsworth received an Urgent Notification from the Chief Inspector of Prisons in May 2024 the government response included a commitment to spending an extra £100m at Wandsworth. Since then, WPIC has been trying to find out how that money is being spent.
On 9 June, at the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Select Committee hearing about fire safety in prisons (more on this below), HMPPS senior management indicated confusion and uncertainty about how much of the £100m has been spent. Cohen Lewis, Deputy Director for HMPPS Estates, Safety and Litigation said that £100m had been spent at Wandsworth on healthcare (including the healthcare centre), CCTV and shower upgrades. Later he corrected himself to say that the £100m included fire safety works planned at Wandsworth. Then James McEwen, CEO of HMPPS, intervened to say that only £17m has been spent so far. HMPPS seem to make no distinction between money spent and money planned to be spent.
The healthcare centre, stated to be part of the £100m, was planned well before the announcement of the extra £100m and was substantially complete in 2021. It cannot be part of a claimed extra £100m to be spent after August 2024. We understand that the healthcare centre cost around £12m. Mr McEwen stated before Parliament that £17m has been spent, apparently including this £12m. This suggests that in the nearly two years since the announcement of an extra £100m over 5 years, approximately £5m has actually been spent. We have put this point to HMPPS and they have not refuted it.
Fire Safety
WPIC was invited to make a submission to the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee’s inquiry into fire safety in prisons which took place in June this year. The inquiry appears to have been prompted by HMPPS’s change of position on Automatic Fire Detection (AFD) in prison cells. Until last year, HMPPS gave repeated public assurances that all cells across the prison estate would be fitted with AFD by the end of 2027 and an undertaking that any cells not protected by AFD by that date would be taken out of operation. In March this year the MOJ announced they are no longer committed to this target and there is no commitment to a new timetable.
WPIC’s submission drew attention to the lack of AFD in Wandsworth and the slow pace of works to rectify this. It reports what we were told in early 2025 by a former officer that the fire contingency plan was not regularly reviewed, that training was not refreshed every year and that the lists of men requiring assistance in case of evacuation were incomplete. We hope that contingency plans and training have now improved.
The latest list of enforcement notices published by the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate (which inspects prisons) shows that Wandsworth had an enforcement notice relating to “warning of fire” issued in August 2025 which is still in force. WPIC has made a number of FOI requests to HMPPS about fire safety in Wandsworth. Although the responses are mostly evasive, we have extracted an acknowledgement that as at 26 June 2026 no cells in Wandsworth had AFD. Preparatory works for the installation of AFD have begun on K wing with the installation of the new system expected to be completed by September 2028. It is not clear what the timetable is for installation of AFD across the whole of Wandsworth. We are awaiting publication of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee’s report.
Why was no one curious about Aleksandras Maslennikovas?
WPIC regularly attends inquests for men who have died in Wandsworth Prison. This is a good way to find out about procedures in the prison and how they sometimes fail people. Because of delays in the Coroner’s Court, inquests sometimes take place up to four years after the death.
Aleksandras Maslennikovas died in Wandsworth Prison in July 2023. He was Lithuanian and awaiting extradition in Wandsworth Prison. For 13 months he had caused no trouble but then suddenly started to show signs of extreme depression and fear and seriously cut himself, claiming he was under threat. An ACCT (Assessment Care in Custody and Teamwork) was opened but closed the next day without involving the nursing team or the mental health team. Aleksandras then set fire to his cell so that he could be moved to another wing, further evidence that he may have felt under threat. He was found hanging in his new cell two days later.
The inquest found that the cause of death was suicide but the jury were unable to determine whether this was due to the ligature or to the enormous overdose found in his system of a drug prescribed in prison. How Aleksandras obtained so much of a lethal drug remains a mystery. And why did no one ask him about the threats which surrounded him, his severe self-harm and his desperation to escape the wing? You can read here our more detailed report of the inquest into Aleksandras’s death.
Imagine being homeless on release from prison
Too many people are released from prison homeless. Wandsworth Prison Welfare Trust provides tents and sleeping bags for those who are released from Wandsworth with nowhere to go. It is welcome news that one of Andy Burnham’s early priorities is to end rough sleeping and any new policy needs to include those released from prison.
In April this year, those who regularly walk past Wandsworth Prison may have noticed a man sleeping rough on the path opposite the prison. He was there because he had nowhere else to go when he was released from Wandsworth. At one point he was badly beaten up and was taken to St George’s Hospital where he remained being treated for two days. On his release from hospital, St George’s dropped him back where he had been sleeping rough with a leaflet describing “What to do when you get home after major trauma.”
Because of what we have learnt about his case, WPIC has been asking questions about support for men who are released homeless from Wandsworth Prison and the treatment of homeless people by St George’s. We have discovered a new homeless hub in Battersea which seems to be taking a genuinely supportive approach bringing together different agencies. St George’s has a Homeless Inclusion Team, which is said to be award-winning. We have asked why it did not appear to be involved in the case we have highlighted. They are investigating and have offered to meet us.
WPWT Christmas Appeal
Wandsworth Prison Welfare Trust (WPWT) will shortly be launching its Christmas appeal. WPWT wants to raise funds to give practical help to men leaving prison such as a warm waterproof coat, suitable shoes, a phone, a travel card and a waterproof sleeping bag for those facing homelessness. These are the essentials men need to live outside prison, to get to any accommodation, to get to an appointment with their probation officer and to have some chance of rebuilding their lives. A fresh start begins with the basics. You can find out more and donate through the Wandsworth Prison Welfare Trust Christmas Appeal Facebook page
Rudd Review
Shortly before he was replaced as Lord Chancellor, David Lammy announced that former Home Secretary Amber Rudd would lead a review “to make prisons safer, tackle crime and deliver long-term reform that protects the public”. All by December this year. The terms of the review and the questions asked in the consultation suggest that there may be an agenda to build more prison places.
WPIC has made a submission to the review. The main points we made were:
Reduce the number of people in prison through shorter sentences, more community sentencing and reducing remand and recall
Stronger focus on rehabilitation, purposeful activity, family support and reducing reoffending.
HMPPS needs a complete overhaul, including much more devolution from the centre to Governors running prisons
Our full submission has lots of evidence drawn from Wandsworth and suggestions for positive changes, including some which wouldn’t cost a lot of money. You can read it here.
News from friends of WPIC
Whoever Has Ears to Hear
Some of you may remember seeing friend of WPIC, spoken word artist Errol MacGlashan, who performed at one of our public meetings and also very kindly performed a fundraising event for WPIC and WPWT. Errol has a new show which is a dramatic recital of the Gospel of Mark. Fresh from the Edinburgh Festival, Errol will be performing the show on 17 September at 6.30pm at the Etcetera Theatre, 265 Camden High Street (above the Oxford Arms pub). Tickets and more information here.
Aristotle’s Prison: A Search for Humanity in Tragic Places
Professor Alison Liebling is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Cambridge University and Director of the Prisons Research Centre. She has been very supportive and encouraging to WPIC. Her latest book is Aristotle’s Prison: A Search for Humanity in Tragic Places. Using data from many years of MQPL surveys she makes the case that as the moral dimensions of prison have declined (measured by respect, humanity, staff/prisoner relationships, trust, support, power and authority) outcomes in terms of violence, self-harm and suicide have increased. This may not be surprising, but the book also succeeds in setting out a more sophisticated analysis, detailing the tipping points at which deterioration in factors such as staff/prisoner relationships result in prisons becoming significantly more violent. This important work helps to give us an empirically grounded description of what a good enough prison looks like. Prisons will only succeed if they go back to humanity, decency and treating prisoners as people. You can read our review of Professor Liebling’s book here and more details of Wandsworth’s latest MQPL survey earlier in this newsletter.
What you can do
Talk to your friends and relatives about how “penal populism” has led to prison overcrowding and the need for the early release scheme
Lobby your MP and ask them to write to Catherine McKinnell, the new Prisons Minister at the Ministry of Justice asking her to set a date by which all cells in Wandsworth Prison will have automatic fire detection (AFD) and to ensure that the Prime Minister’s new homelessness initiative will include people released homeless from prison
Keep following WPIC on X/twitter, our website and like and share our tweets
Find out more about prisons. A good place to start is Inside Time. You can search for articles about Wandsworth and you can subscribe to their email newsletter for free.
Come to our next meeting at 10am on 10 October in the Wandsworth Quaker Meeting House, 59 Wandsworth High Street SW18 2PT. Please email us to let us know if you plan to come.
