In March 2011, HMP Birmingham became the first publicly run British prison to be privatised. The then justice secretary, Ken Clarke, boasted that the contract awarded to G4S would deliver “innovation, efficiency and better value for money” without “compromising standards”. Seven years later, such lofty ambitions appear risible. On 20 August, the Ministry of Justice took emergency control of the prison after an inspection charted its dismal state. Peter Clarke, the chief inspector, described endemic violence, chronic drug use and corridors strewn with cockroaches, blood and vomit.
The prison system – which has endured cuts of more than 30 per cent since 2010 – is struggling to sustain a near-record population of 82,949 in England and Wales. As well as a crisis in the justice system, HMP Birmingham’s disrepair exemplifies the wider enfeeblement of the public realm.
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