Prison thrown into chaos by policy change

Prison specialising in people convicted of violent crimes was changed into a category C training prison in October

A prison which specialised in people convicted of violent crimes has been thrown into chaos" by a policy change introduced by Dominic Raab's Ministry of Justice to cope with a national rise in inmate numbers, an official watchdog has found.

HMP Aylesbury was suddenly and without sufficient consultation, notice or support" changed into a category C training prison in October, the chief inspector of prisons said.

Only four out of every 10 prisoners went into settled accommodation on release from custody.

Just 8% of those available for work went into employment.

Recall rates were high, with 30% on average being returned to custody - four in 10 of these were within 28 days of being released.

There is an 30% shortfall of full-time employed probation officers in post against the required staffing level of 6,160.