Charlie Taylor was originally a primary and secondary school teacher in London. After becoming a specialist in children’s behaviour and why they misbehaved his career gradually took him to work in the Youth Justice System. Today he is in his fourth year as His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, a role he is passionate about.
‘It’s a fascinating role. There are lots of issues, and we come across some harrowing things. But I’ve got a brilliant team, and we’ve got a very clear mission, and we work very hard to try and fulfil that.’
The main remit of the Chief Inspector of Prisons is to provide independent scrutiny of around 120 prisons across England and Wales, as well as inspecting immigration detention and holding facilities, military detention, and court custody. Through this work Charlie can spotlight areas for change and disseminate information on the good practice he sees.
What was it that you saw in the Alliance of Sport and the Get Well, Stay Well project which made you want to be a part of the Taskforce?
As Chief Inspector of Prisons and in my previous work, both as a teacher and in the Youth Justice System, I’ve always believed physical activity is imperative for a whole range of reasons.
Firstly, for physical health. But many of the people who end up in custody are physically quite unhealthy. Some of them have drug and alcohol issues. Some of them have just led very unhealthy lifestyles. Many have been homeless, for example. So, the importance of sport and being able to get active at whatever level they’re able to do, is absolutely essential.
Being active not only improves physical health but critically improves mental health as well. We know many people who are locked up in prison have poor mental health, and prisons are often mentally very unhealthy places.
‘Anything that gets more focus on physical health, the benefits of exercise and getting people to really think about how they can get and stay healthy, from our point of view, is just really important. The Alliance of Sport just felt a natural fit with our work at the inspectorate.’
I met James and Justin from the Alliance of Sport through Baroness Amanda Sater, who used to be on the Youth Justice Board. She has a very big interest in this area, and she introduced me to James probably two and a half years ago. I’ve been involved ever since.
A real shared ethos and belief there with the Alliance of Sport. And what do you hope to see Get Well, Stay Well achieve?
This isn’t just about getting people to lead more active lives; it’s about sustaining that. For example, if they’re in custody, it’s also how we make sure that they carry on leading active lives when they come out from custody. Because that’s often where the rubber really hits the road, where the danger is that people will go back to being homeless, or go back to substance misuse, that sort of thing. Anything we can do to reduce that risk is really important.
‘In the in the longer term, it’s a question of, can we get people who haven’t led active lives to lead more active lives in the future? That, for me, is the bottom line.‘
From my point of view, we’ll know whether this has been a successful programme if, in the longer term, we get people out of institutions like prisons and, when they do come out, they continue with some great habits in terms of being active.
How do you see your role in achieving that? Is it a cascade effect of getting the information out there to prisons?
As Chief Inspector, there’s a limit to what I can do, because I can’t prescribe to prisons. But I can, and do, frequently flag the challenges that prisoners face in getting enough activity. Can they get to the gym as often as they want? Is the gym a place just for prisoners who want to do weights all day, or is there a range of activities on offer for people who perhaps don’t want to do weights but just want to get a little bit more active? Perhaps older prisoners or people who are unwell or just starting out.
We comment in every one of our reports about access to physical activity, and that’s been a real focus.
‘I went to an open prison in Sussex, and one of the things that really struck me was the football pitch there, which was in really good nick, and I thought, well, that’s strange. Football pitches being used all the time should be a bit of a mess at this stage in the year.
I asked about it and discovered that prisoners weren’t allowed to take a football out and kick it around on their own, despite the fact that it’s an open prison and they can be driving a forklift truck or doing their HGV qualification.
We push very hard on that sort of thing. We are beginning to see progress in that small area where prisoners who’ve proved they’re trustworthy and are on a journey towards coming out from custody are able to do the sort of casual sporting activity that the rest of us can do on the outside.’
And what about examples of prisons who are opening up activity to inmates? What difference do you see in them?
We were in Kirklevington Grange a couple of weeks ago, an open prison in northeast England. They’re making a really impressive effort to get prisoners involved in sports.
Parkrun was happening there, and they were running a traditional sports day, an old-fashioned kind, with tug-of-war and those sorts of things. Officers and prisoners were doing stuff together, which, again, is great for relationships. Families were able to come in and get involved or just see some of the activity.
It’s a prison that is really focused on activity, getting people busy, and helping prisoners understand and feel the health benefits of sport.
It allows people to realise that sport can bring you connections, and it can be an absolutely different kind of connection. Friendships, teamwork and just that general feeling of goodwill that we all get after we’ve exercised.
That’s a great example to end on and a real insight into the difference sport and activity can make in the Welfare and Justice System. Before we wrap up, do you have anything you’d like to add to this interview?
Yes, I’d like to say that James and his absolute dedication to this is a real model of how to get stuff done. We’re working in a system where the bureaucracy is quite thick. And James has, with his incredible good nature, just wrestled his way through lots of that, and is a great, convener of people. It wouldn’t have happened without his input. I think we, and the people who will be affected by the Alliance for Sport and by Get Well, Stay Well will be extremely grateful to him.
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