This annual report from Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, covers the 2006-07 period. During this time the prison population increased to 81,500 prisoners, with over 1,000 a week being held in police cells, awaiting a prison place. The report also charts the effects on prisons and prisoners of an increasingly pressurised system. There were 40% more self-inflicted deaths in custody last year, particularly during a prisoners early days within the prison system, and particularly amongst groups of vulnerable prisoners, such as foreign nationals, indeterminate-sentenced and unsentenced prisoners and women. The effects of prison overcrowding place great strain on training prisons and local prisons, with more suicides, poorer resettlement outcomes and insufficient exercise activity. Further, the greater use of indeterminate sentences stranded many prisoners within inappropriate prisons further driving up the prison population. The Chief Inspector does commend the prison system stating they are better places than 10 to 15 years ago, with some prisons showing improvements. There are improvements in healthcare, though there are concerns expressed about such provision in private sector prisons. There is also more support during the vulnerable early days of custody, though too many prisoners spend their first night in a police cell. The Inspector believes the prison system is at a crossroads and praises recent signs of a more effective and measured approach to policy and strategy, with new initiatives and good operational practice to build on. But, there is also a real risk that the prison system will move towards large-scale penal containment so losing the progress gained in improving the prison system.

During the inspection year (September 2008 to August 2009) a total of 93 custodial establishments were inspected. Each establishment is assessed against four healthy prison tests: safety, respect, purposeful activity and resettlement. 72 per cent of assessments were positive. Full inspection reports made 4,513 recommendations for improvement, of which 96 per cent were accepted, wholly or in principle, by the National Offender Management Service. Unannounced follow-up inspections found that overall 67 per cent of recommendations had been achieved. Open and women's prisons performed best, with training prisons showing the lowest level of achievement. The Inspectorate published 103 reports on a wide range of establishments and topics. The annual report reflects on progress in reducing the women's prison population, contrasting with no discernable progress for young adults in prison who remain a neglected and under-resourced age-group with a high rate of re-offending. The report stresses the continual pressure from an increasing population set against actual and threatened budget cuts. Population pressure affects the whole system - stretching resources and managerial energy, keeping in use buildings that should be condemned, doubling-up prisoners in cramped cells, leading to unnecessary and destabilising prisoner moves. All this compromises successful rehabilitation. In 2009 the Inspectorate became the co-ordinator for the UK's National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) established under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment. The NPM consists of 18 existing bodies which are independent and have the right to inspect all places of detention.

After a year in which prisons held a record number of prisoners, the prison system remains under pressure, and important lessons must be learnt if prisons are to be safe and effective. Despite sustained and chronic pressure, the report recognises progress over the past year. Overall, the Inspectorate's assessments of prisons inspected last year were more positive than those of prisons inspected the previous year, particularly in resettlement work. The number of self-inflicted deaths also decreased last year. The Chief Inspector identifies a number of warning signs, and new concerns: growing concerns about safety, particularly in dispersal prisons and young offender institutions, and rates of self-harm among women; unsuitable, cramped or unhygienic accommodation in some prisons; difficulties in complying with duties under the Disability Discrimination Act, and other equality duties; low activity levels in too many training prisons; the growing problem of alcohol misuse and the limited investment in this in prisons or the community; the potential effect of the recession on prisoners' employment and resettlement prospects. The report also refers to the inspection of immigration detention and the new inspection programme on police custody. Immigration removal centres were, on the whole, less safe and respectful than those inspected last year, though activity and welfare support had improved. The detention of children remains a major concern and is ripe for review. Inspections of police custody, jointly with the Inspectorate of Constabulary, have confirmed much good practice, but also revealed some deficiencies.

This text presents an overview of sentencing and punishment from penological, social policy and legal perspectives. It provides an accessible account of the changing attitudes of the public, policy makers and the judiciary regarding what constitutes 'just' punishment.