Rioting lags to be forced to repair their damaged cells in a bid to stamp out violence in prisons
LAGS who smash up their cells will be forced to fix the damage, under new measures from today.
Ministers will target violence and drug use in jails while handing more powers to governors to keep order.
Prisons will be named and shamed in a league table if they miss inmate drug testing targets.
And airport-style security will be rolled out to stop banned items being smuggled in.
Boris Johnson said: “With zero tolerance to drugs and more autonomy for governors to maintain good order, our reforms will clamp down on the causes of reoffending and make sure prison pays.”
In a push to keep criminals off the streets, the Government plans to build 20,000 more cells.
All prisoners will also be checked for drug and alcohol addiction soon after arrival.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab added: “Our plan will improve the security of our jails to help cut off drugs, knives and mobile phones, and allow effective rehabilitation to take place.
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“The regime in prison will be reoriented to end addiction and build up skills so offenders go straight into work on release.” Ministers said that scanners had already thwarted 10,000 smuggling attempts since last year.
But Labour said drug stashes found in cells had rocketed from less than 3,500 in 2011 to more than 20,000 last year.
Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed said: “Boris Johnson and the Conservatives cannot be trusted to clean up the mess they’ve made in prisons because they are soft on crime.”
