Overview

• Charlie Taylor said organised gangs deploy advanced drones to drop up to 10 kg of drugs and weapons into prisons, raising a theoretical risk of drone-enabled escapes.
• Official data show annual drug seizures topped 21,145 by March 2024, while 39 percent of inmates report easy access and some random tests return over 30 percent positives.
• Years of austerity cuts and pandemic-era staff shortages have fuelled overcrowding and limited purposeful activity, undermining rehabilitation and driving drug demand.
• The government has pledged £40 million for scanners, drone-restricted flight zones and to add 14,000 prison places by 2031 alongside sentencing reforms.
• Inspection and charity leaders warn that these measures are insufficient to address systemic security gaps and rising violence in England and Wales’s prisons.