Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, has called on Ministers to take action to improve standards at HMYOI Brinsford and HMP Oakwood.
Gavin wrote to Prisons Minister, Mr. Andrew Selous MP, after HMYOI Brinsford was rated the worst prison in the country in a recent government report.
HMYOI Brinsford was the only one of 126 UK prisons to receive the lowest possible score of one, marking it as of ‘serious concern’ to the National Offender Management Service (NOMS).
Despite the low score, NOMS officials claimed improvements have been made to the prison since it was heavily criticised during a November 2013 inspection.
A new Governor has been appointed and work has been undertaken to improve safety and overall standards at the institution.
Neighbouring HMP Oakwood only performed slightly better in the report, with an overall score of two marking it as of ‘concern’ to the agency.
This was a slight improvement on the previous year, when the G4S run institution also received the lowest possible points.
In his letter to the Minister, Gavin 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.
Gavin 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.”