Ian Acheson: ‘If you don’t have safety and control in prisons, you have nothing’ | Erwin James

Last week's riot at HMP Birmingham highlighted the chronic lack of frontline staff in our jails. The government needs to act, says the former prison governor

Last week's riot at HMP Birmingham and unrest at Hull was not the only bad news for the prison service this year - 2016 has also seen a record number of deaths behind bars, unprecedented levels of serious assaults and self-harm, rampant drug abuse and a spectacular breakout.

Related: Birmingham prison riot: government was warned two months earlier

The government got it wrong. They need to accept that they cut frontline staff too far

Related: Inside the special prison unit where rehabilitation rules the roost | Erwin James