MP demands improvement after Brinsford named nation's worst jail
An MP has called on the Minister of Prisons to improve the standards of Brinsford Young Offenders Institution after a damning reported rated it the worst prison in the country.
The institute near Wolverhampton was the only jail out of 126 prisons in England and Wales rated as 'of serious concern' by National Offender Management Service (NOMS).
The Conservative MP's fears have been echoed by South Staffordshire Councillor for Featherstone and Brinsford Frank Beardsmore.
Councillor Beardsmore is demanding answer from the Ministry of Justice over the state of Brinsford.
It followed an inspection in November.
Mr Williamson has written to the Minister for Prisons Andrew Selous MP to take action on both Brinsford and HMP Oakwood which is run by G4S and was ranked as a concern, despite an improvement on the previous year.
The Conservative MP said: "There is no point playing the blame game. However, it is quite clear that something is going badly wrong in these prisons and that there are serious issues which need to be urgently addressed.
"I have written to ministers to urge them to supply all the necessary support to ensure these institutions are brought up to scratch. The current situation is, quite frankly, not good enough."
In his letter to the minister, Mr Williamson sought assurances that the prisons' management teams would receive all the resources, support, training and financial assistance that they require to deal with the problems raised.
Councillor Beardsmore questioned why the state of Brinsford Prison hadn't be highlighted previously.
He said: "This isn't something that happened over night. It has obviously gradually got worse so where were the reports before it became the worst prison in the country?
"There needs to be answers from the Ministry of Justice, if it can happen to Brinsford it can happen to any prison.
"It affects our community because they question the ability to run the prison safely and who wants to be living next to an unsafe prison."
Speaking about the report last week Michael Spurr, chief executive officer of NOMS said : "Following the inspection we took immediate action to improve conditions. A new governor was appointed and urgent work was done to improve safety, ensure decency and increase activity."
"The prison is now clean, safe, ordered and is operating to an acceptable standard."
