More activities for prisoners will reduce drug use, says head of Prison Service

 The head of the Prison Service in England and Wales has told MPs that offering prisoners more activities and more time out of their cells will help to tackle the problem of drugs in jails.

James McEwan, Chief Executive of HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), said a recent fall in the prison population – down more than 2,000 since the Sentencing Act 2026 began to take effect – would help governors to run more consistent regimes allowing more worthwhile activities to take place.

Mr McEwan was answering questions from the all-party Justice Select Committee about the state of prisons at an evidence session on 28 April. He was asked by Warinder Juss, Labour MP for Wolverhampton West, what prisons were doing to combat the boredom which encourages people in prison to turn to drugs for relief.

Mr McEwan replied: “Every year we work with governors on regime plans for the year ahead to set out some of their aspirations for their establishments. We’ve particularly focused this year on safety and security, as you would expect, but safety and security is driven in lots of ways – including making sure there is good purposeful activities, good time out of room, enrichment activities available.”

He said some jails saw a “downward spiral” where drug high rates of drug use led to prisoners being taken to hospital, meaning staff are needed to escort them, or prisoners engaging in violence linked to drug debts, leading to officers going off sick through injury. The resulting staff shortages meant prisoners spending more time in their cells, fuelling the problem of boredom.

Mr McEwan added: “As we take heat out of the prison system through the measures we’re taking in the Sentencing Act, one of the opportunities we have is try and have more consistent regime so we’re really clear with prisoners – this is what we’re going to deliver, this is what you can expect from the regime, and that we’ve got have much more confidence that we can do that. So trying to get out of that negative spiral and have a much more positive experience.”

Addressing the causes of drug use in prisons, Mr McEwan said: “Boredom is a factor for sure, but also debt and extortion, people bringing in addiction issues they’ve got in the community, all play a part.” Sitting alongside him as he answered MPs’ questions was Dr Jo Farrar, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice.

Over a six-week period in March and April, the prison population declined by 2,047 to a new 15-month low, driven by a change introduced as part of the Sentencing Act 2026. 

Under the Act, many prisoners serving sentences of four years or longer who had previously been handed a ‘standard recall’ – meaning they might stay in custody until the end of their sentence – saw this converted into a ‘fixed-term recall’ of just 56 days custody. Those who had already spent more than 56 days on recall became eligible for immediate release.

In a report on drugs in prisons published in October 2025, the Justice Select Committee said that bored prisoners are more likely to use drugs, and called for a wider range of activities to be offered. One of the report’s recommendations stated: “The MoJ must expand access to purposeful activities, including education, vocational training, accredited work programmes and constructive recreational opportunities to prevent prisoners turning to drugs as a result of boredom.”