Key Links

Campaigns

Criminology

Death Penalty

Diversity

Justice System

Police

Prisons

Probation

Weblogs

Practitioner Links

Domestic Violence

Mental Disorder

Restorative Justice

Sex Offenders

Substance Misuse

Victims

News

News Archives: Index

October 7, 2010: Probation Set For Industrial Action

October 5, 2010: Turning Prisoners Into Taxpayers

October 4, 2010: Murder Changes Now In Force

September 20, 2010: Probation Programmes Face Cuts

August 24, 2010: Victorian Poor Law Records Online

August 10, 2010: Justice Job Cuts

July 28, 2010: Prison Violence Growing

July 22, 2010: Police Numbers: Latest Figures

July 22, 2010: New Jurisdiction Rules

July 16, 2010: CCJS On Prison And Probation Spending Under Labour

July 15, 2010: Latest Statistics On Violent And Sexual Crime

July 15, 2010: Latest National Crime Figures

July 15, 2010: New Chief Prisons Inspector

July 14, 2010: Hard Times Ahead For Prisons: Anne Owers

July 14, 2010: Prison Does Not Work: Ken Clarke

July 13, 2010: Criminal Justice Reform: Sentencing and Rehabilitation

July 13, 2010: Criminal Justice Reform Priorities

July 12, 2010: What Price Public Protection, Asks Probation Chief Inspector

July 12, 2010: NOMS has failed, says Napo

July 10, 2010: IPCC To Investigate Death of Raoul Moat

July 9, 2010: Women In Prison: New Report

July 9, 2009: Unjust Deserts: Imprisonment for Public Protection

July 8, 2010: Police Search Powers Change

July 7, 2010: Make 'Legal High' Illegal, Says ACMD

July 2, 2010: Failing Children In Prison

July 2, 2010: Police Buried Under a Blizzard of Guidance: HMIC

July 1, 2010: Freedom To Change The Law?

June 30, 2010: A New Outlook On Penal Reform?

June 30, 2010: Revolving Door Of Offending Must Stop, Says Clarke

June 30, 2010: Ken Clarke: Speech on Criminal Justice Reform

June 29, 2010: No More Police Targets

June 26, 2010: Family Intervention Projects Questioned

June 25, 2010: Cutting Criminal Justice

June 24, 2010: Napo on Sex Offenders Report

June 23, 2010: Closing Courts: The Cuts Begin

June 23, 2010: Strategy To Tackle Gangs

June 15, 2010: Courts and Mentally Disordered Offenders

June 8, 2010: Working With Muslims in Prison

June 1, 2010: Your Chance To Nominate a QC

July 15, 2010: New Chief Prisons Inspector

Nick Hardwick today took up the post of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, succeeding Dame Anne Owers DBE. Attending an unannounced inspection at HMP Holme House in Teesside, Nick Hardwick said:

"It is a great honour to be taking over as HM Chief Inspector of Prisons from Dame Anne Owers today. Under her leadership and that of her predecessor, Lord Ramsbotham, the Prisons Inspectorate has established a world wide reputation for its work. It is a daunting act to follow.
"The Inspectorate itself in very good shape but the environment in which we operate has become much more challenging. The seemingly irresistible force of rising prison numbers meeting the immovable object of reduced resources risks crushing prison standards between them and mean very difficult choices have to be made.
"The Inspectorate is productive and effective and I will ensure that we continue to fulfil our primary duty of ensuring our inspections provide Ministers and the wider public with the authoritative, independent and principled evidence on which to make and assess those choices.

Crispin Blunt, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice said:

"I am pleased to welcome Nick Hardwick as the new HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. His experience as Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission sets him in good stead to undertake this important role.
"I would like to thank Dame Anne Owers DBE for the outstanding contributions she has made over the past nine years in improving the organisations she has inspected. The progress she has made leaves the Inspectorate in great shape. As the new Minister for Prisons I look forward to working with Nick to build on the good work of his predecessor in shedding light on an area of real public interest and concern."

Nick Hardwick was identified following a rigorous and open selection process, which took into account the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s Code of Practice as best practice.

Nick Hardwick was previously the first Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission from 2003 to 2010. His earlier career was in the voluntary sector, where he began working with young offenders for NACRO (The National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders.

From 1986 to 1995 he worked as Chief Executive of Centrepoint – a charity and housing association for young homeless people. He was the Chief Executive of the Refugee Council from 1995 to 2003. He is currently chair of the Housing Ombudsman Service and a trustee of New Horizon Youth Centre. Nick has a BA (Hons) from Hull University in English Literature and has an Honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences from the University of Wolverhampton. He was awarded a CBE in 2010.

HM Chief Inspector is a Crown Appointment and reports to the Justice Secretary on the treatment of prisoners and conditions in prisons in England and Wales. HM Chief Inspector also reports to the Home Secretary on conditions and treatment in all places of immigration detention in the United Kingdom.

The post of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales was established by the Criminal Justice Act 1982, amending the Prison Act 1952.

Nick Hardwick was announced as the preferred candidate for the role of chief inspector of prisons by the Ministry of Justice on 3 March 2010. The Justice Select Committee endorsed Nick Hardwick’s appointment on 18 March 2010. The Ministry of Justice announced on 23 March 2010 that Justice Secretary Jack Straw had recommended Nick Hardwick’s appointment to HM the Queen.