‘Dire’ prison conditions putting rehabilitation and reoffending reduction ‘at risk’, Justice Committee warns

This was a report about how Bad prison conditions in prison can lead to re-offending, Here is a brief summary of the Report:

The Chair of the Justice Committee, Andy Slaughter MP, calls the current system a "false economy".
80% of all offending in England and Wales is actually reoffending. This proves the government is just churning people through a broken system rather than fixing the root causes.

Remand prisoners (A remand prisoner is someone being held in prison while they wait for their court case or sentencing, so they have not been convicted yet.) now make up 20% of the prison population, which is the highest level in at least 50 years.
The report highlights that these individuals spend massive amounts of time locked up, only to be released straight from the court with absolutely zero support or intervention.

Prisons are in such a "state of disrepair" that the Committee warned they might be violating human rights legislation.
There is a massive £1.8 billion maintenance backlog.
Prisoners are being locked in their cells for 22 hours or more a day, causing a widespread failure to meet statutory minimums for time out of cell.
Because of this, guys are literally having to choose between getting fresh air, having a hot meal, or taking a shower, meaning purposeful rehabilitative activities are totally deprioritised.

There are reports of real-term cuts to prison education budgets of up to 50%.
Half of all adult prisoners aren't even involved in education or work.
Of the prisons inspected by Ofsted in 2024/25, a massive 75% were rated “inadequate” or “showing no improvement”.

Health and wellbeing services are failing, with inconsistent mental health support and operational pressures blocking timely access to care.
Women in prison face particularly acute and complex health needs, but the system isn't providing even basic support for them.