Howard League for Penal Reform

16/06/2026

"In 2025 there were around 2,500 cell fires, that's on average about seven a day. 18% of fires have resulted in injuries."

Our Managing Solicitor, Sinead MacCann, gave evidence to the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee this morning on fire safety in prison.

Watch: https://ow.ly/Xovz50ZckcC

14/06/2026

“Far from having confidence that officers might be disciplined for the misuse of force, we've heard of young people being told ‘you brought it on yourself’.”

Our Legal Director, Gemma Abbott, analyses recent changes in government policy, in our Spotlights ‘Use of force’ webinar: https://howardleague.org/spotlights/

12/06/2026

***We're hiring!***

Could you be the Policy Manager we're looking for?

Click here to find out more about the role and how to apply: https://howardleague.org/about-us/vacancies/policy-manager-2026/

12/06/2026

"The Board is concerned about the significant rise in self-harm, violence and use of force over the reporting year."

The Independent Monitoring Board for Low Newton, a women's prison in County Durham, has provided its annual report:

Our eyes on the inside, a voice on the outside

12/06/2026

We are delighted to have won the Sheila McKechnie Foundation's 'Best Use of Law' award for our campaign to end unlawful isolation and segregation of children in custody. 🏆

Watch this video to find out more about the campaign.

The video includes a speech by our Legal Director, Gemma Abbott, thanking Law for Change and Ayesha Christie from Matrix Chambers for their key roles in the campaign.

Grab your comfiest seat — the SMK National Campaigner Awards 2026 a...

11/06/2026

"Nineteen thousand."

WATCH: The Justice and Home Affairs Committee hears that 19,000 people are being held in prison cells without automatic fire detection equipment.

And that's not to mention all the other fire safety improvement works that are required across the estate.

11/06/2026

There are few issues that come up in Howard League correspondence more than recall. The human impact of the overuse of recall is devastating, as is the pressure high recall numbers place on the prison system. Rarely are the reasons for the recall compelling; sometimes they are absurd.

Our Chief Executive, Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), writes about the many issues with recall and its uses in her latest column for Inside Time:

10/06/2026

Here are the top 10 most overcrowded prisons in England and Wales in May.

The prison estate should not hold more than 81,865 people, the population currently exceeds this level by 4,071.

https://howardleague.org/prison-watch/

09/06/2026

Woodhill prison: Almost three years in special measures, and still in crisis.

The highest rates of violence. The highest rates of serious assaults on staff. The highest positive drug-testing rates. The highest rates of self-harm. Awful staff shortages. The words are a damning indictment, but one only has to look at the disgusting photographs in this report to see that Woodhill is a prison in crisis.

Woodhill’s failure to improve reflects the chronic problems we see across a prison system that has been asked to do too much, with too little, for too long. Why are politicians spending billions on new prisons when they cannot fix the problems in the dire jails we already have?

Read our thoughts on HM Inspectorate of Prisons' report on Woodhill prison here: https://howardleague.org/news/woodhill-almost-three-years-in-special-measures-and-still-in-crisis/