In jail and offline: Internet lack worsens UK's prisons crisis

London: The sun has risen on Operation Early Dawn, the British government's emergency plan to mitigate overcrowding in the country's packed jails by keeping offenders in police cells for longer.

The emergency measure was triggered after hundreds of people were arrested following anti-immigration riots this month.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government has said the arrests over racist violence aimed at migrants and Muslims had worsened a prison capacity crisis that had already seen ministers say they would have to release some prisoners early.

Even before the riots, Starmer, who was elected in July, described the prison system as a "monumental failure".

Britain has western Europe's highest rate of incarceration. As of July 5, England and Wales had 87,453 prisoners - up from 86,035 a year earlier and close to what prison governors see as a maximum capacity of 88,864.

The overall number has doubled since 1990 but spending on prisons is set to fall by nearly 6 per cent per year.

One solution, charities and experts say, could be changing the purpose of prisons so that they focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment, while bridging the digital divide to allow inmates to study and prepare themselves for life outside again.

During the coronavirus pandemic many schools and other educational services went online but prisons have not caught up.

Only 18 out of 117 prisons in England and Wales have the cabling or hardware to support broadband, according to 2021 research, leaving British inmates with learning challenges when, elsewhere, digitisation in prisons looks promising.

In Finland and Australia, research indicates digital access has improved inmates' relationships in and out of prison, providing them with a greater sense of autonomy, and enhancing their overall wellbeing, which the British government says can significantly reduce the rate of reoffending.

The Shannon Trust, a charity that helps prisoners with literacy and numeracy, said that broadband for educational purposes should be a priority for the new government.

"Being able to deliver (literacy and numeracy) programmes in prisons digitally would mean we could reach more people, save costs on resources, and also get people in prison comfortable using digital tools," Amy Longstaff, communications manager for the Shannon Trust, which provides educational tools to prisoners, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The Ministry of Justice said it had taken measures to address the crisis in prisons and would build the new, modern prisons needed.

"We are also committed to driving down reoffending, including through better education and employment opportunities," it told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a statement.

James Tweed, head of digital learning company Coracle, which provides inmates with access to education, said the fact that many prisons were built in the Victorian era, combined with budget restrictions, meant the digital age had passed them by.

"The government is dealing with a prison system in crisis," Tweed said. "It is vital that prisoners get access to digital resources and are able to develop digital skills which will prepare them better for life when they are released."

Installing broadband infrastructure in the country's prisons would cost approximately 100 million pounds ($130 million), according to the Centre for Social Justice think tank.

But the social and economic cost of reoffending is around 18 billion pounds, and research from prison charity The Clink shows that prisoners who undertake educational courses via distance learning are less likely to reoffend, and reoffend less frequently, than those who did not.

For every 100 prisoners who undertake higher education courses, compared to those who do not, the number of prisoners who commit a proven reoffence within one year after release is lower by four to five individuals, the British government says.

For David Breakspear, a 54-year-old former prisoner in Kent, access to digital education would have made a huge difference.

"To be honest, (if I had) a laptop in prison, I don't think I'd have left my cell," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation via email. "I'd be so busy learning I'd not have the time to do anything else."

Breakspear spent over 40 years in-and-out of 15 different prisons, and because he was kicked out of school, he had to finish his studies in jail.

"Not having access to digital technology made studying in prison, via distance learning, extremely difficult," he said.

Britain has experimented with so-called smart prisons - designed with education, training and jobs for prisoners on release as their main goals - but results were lackluster due to failures in management.

For example, Five Wells prison in Northamptonshire provided in-cell tablets for education, but staff did not give prisoners regular access to the virtual campus, and the tablets could not be used to search for jobs, according to a January report by the chief inspector of prisons.

Global insights

Outside of Britain, 'smart prisons' have been tested and are being introduced after trials. For example, Finland launched its first smart prison in the southern city of Hameenlinna in 2021.

Prisoners have access to a digital notice board, electronic books, and educational material. They can also use the internet to contact prison staff, family and obtain legal support.

Last year, Py­haselka prison and Kylmakoski prison also became smart, and the plan is to do the same in all closed prisons in the country.

Finland used the pandemic as an opportunity to develop the model since face-to-face meetings were restricted, said Pia Puolakka, a psychologist with the Smart Prison Project at Finland's Criminal Sanctions Agency.

Now, the smart prisons provide inmates with ebooks, rehabilitative materials and access to between 300 and 400 websites that provide online courses and other educational content.

"(Prisoners) can study or rehabilitate themselves independently. It is a great advantage. It builds the bridge to outside society so that (they) learn how things are going in civil life, and digital skills," Puolakka told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

A similar project is underway in New South Wales, Australia, where nearly all prisons have in-cell technology and inmates have Android tablets, meaning they can hold family visits via video call, join online group programmes and access distraction-free spaces for activities.

Puolakka says adequate security measures are necessary as well as training for both inmates and staff.

"What the Finnish prison system has understood for 20 years is that prisons are supposed to be rehabilitative," she said.

"(But) the technical part is not the only thing that you need to succeed. There must be relevant content regarding prisoners' needs and risks and there must be a change in prison culture."

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