Tweet
Prisons pre 1990 the year of the Strangeways riot there were good points & bad points; the bad points triggering the riots
So let's start with the good points.
Pre 1989 prisoners were allowed on remand to receive from visitors and sent in as a parcel five ounces of tobacco a week (in my cell mate's case he received ten ounces a week as his wife sent me five ounces too which I gave to him)
When someone visited you they could give you a bag of food from a supermarket to a certain maximum amount, Also they could bring you in one can of beer/lager & a meal.
Back then pre 1989 the Governor could give you extra days added to your sentence for breaking prison rules. Each time you broke prison rules you received an IEP (Incentives Earned Privileges) strike. Three strikes you are in front of the Governor. Then he could give you things like a week in segregation or loss of earnings from you workplace such as sewing mailbags though mailbags are no longer made in prisons. A prized job in any prison is Kitchens which nowadays pays £15 a week in public sector prisons and £50 a week in private contracted prisons, those run by companies such as Group 4 & Serco. Nowadays Governors are no longer allowed to give added days, Only the independent adjudicator/District judge can. Sort of the Governor being magistrates court & the Independent Adjudicator being the crown court
So they are the good points
Pre 1989 two & sometimes three prisoners shared a cell. They had a bucket with a lid to use to go to the toilet and a jug and bowl to fill with water in the ablutions block to take back to their cells for having a wash. Showers were only allowed weekly.
Nowadays all prison cells are en-suite though with two (no longer three) prisoners to a cell in a one man cell there is no privacy
So if you are good and behave yourself and lead a productive prison life by going to work and taking educational courses etc after three months you become an enhanced prisoner. This gives you enhanced privileges. As a standard prisoner you now have in-cell television & a kettle. If you are naughty you drop to Basic regime & lose your television. So as an enhanced prisoner you are allowed a DVD player, X-Box, PlayStation etc. You can even borrow from the library DVD films to watch in-cell. Some prisons have a DVD player in the office on a closed circuit where we can watch those films on our in-cell television on a dedicated channel
As an enhanced prison you were entitled to ROTL (Release On Temporary License) where you could have day town visits with your family, visitors open days where instead of the visitors hall you & your family were allowed out to a fete like day on the football field complete with bouncy castle swings & roundabouts for the kids.
Also on ROTL you could work in the community. ROTL has been around for decades even pre 1989. You could have weekend and week long home leaves
In 1982 when I was in borstal I worked in a residential hospital for the physically & mentally challenged
What does it cost to keep a prisoner in prison?
For ONE prisoner for ONE year it costs the tax-payer £43,000
The current prison population over the female & male prison estate is 90,000
So all you mathematicians out there in DYR land multiply 43.000 by 90.000 per year and what have you got?
My guess would be quite a few million per year
So that is where your income tax is going. The bottomless pit of the prison system
So let's start with the good points.
Pre 1989 prisoners were allowed on remand to receive from visitors and sent in as a parcel five ounces of tobacco a week (in my cell mate's case he received ten ounces a week as his wife sent me five ounces too which I gave to him)
When someone visited you they could give you a bag of food from a supermarket to a certain maximum amount, Also they could bring you in one can of beer/lager & a meal.
Back then pre 1989 the Governor could give you extra days added to your sentence for breaking prison rules. Each time you broke prison rules you received an IEP (Incentives Earned Privileges) strike. Three strikes you are in front of the Governor. Then he could give you things like a week in segregation or loss of earnings from you workplace such as sewing mailbags though mailbags are no longer made in prisons. A prized job in any prison is Kitchens which nowadays pays £15 a week in public sector prisons and £50 a week in private contracted prisons, those run by companies such as Group 4 & Serco. Nowadays Governors are no longer allowed to give added days, Only the independent adjudicator/District judge can. Sort of the Governor being magistrates court & the Independent Adjudicator being the crown court
So they are the good points
Pre 1989 two & sometimes three prisoners shared a cell. They had a bucket with a lid to use to go to the toilet and a jug and bowl to fill with water in the ablutions block to take back to their cells for having a wash. Showers were only allowed weekly.
Nowadays all prison cells are en-suite though with two (no longer three) prisoners to a cell in a one man cell there is no privacy
So if you are good and behave yourself and lead a productive prison life by going to work and taking educational courses etc after three months you become an enhanced prisoner. This gives you enhanced privileges. As a standard prisoner you now have in-cell television & a kettle. If you are naughty you drop to Basic regime & lose your television. So as an enhanced prisoner you are allowed a DVD player, X-Box, PlayStation etc. You can even borrow from the library DVD films to watch in-cell. Some prisons have a DVD player in the office on a closed circuit where we can watch those films on our in-cell television on a dedicated channel
As an enhanced prison you were entitled to ROTL (Release On Temporary License) where you could have day town visits with your family, visitors open days where instead of the visitors hall you & your family were allowed out to a fete like day on the football field complete with bouncy castle swings & roundabouts for the kids.
Also on ROTL you could work in the community. ROTL has been around for decades even pre 1989. You could have weekend and week long home leaves
In 1982 when I was in borstal I worked in a residential hospital for the physically & mentally challenged
What does it cost to keep a prisoner in prison?
For ONE prisoner for ONE year it costs the tax-payer £43,000
The current prison population over the female & male prison estate is 90,000
So all you mathematicians out there in DYR land multiply 43.000 by 90.000 per year and what have you got?
My guess would be quite a few million per year
So that is where your income tax is going. The bottomless pit of the prison system