Contractors face scrutiny but inspector also finds grim conditions at public facilities

Government move comes amid controversy over outsourcing of public services

Rory Stewart threatens to resign unless problems are solved at struggling jails

High levels of violence, drugs, squalor and suicide linked to funding cuts

Experts insist small cells a trigger for disorder when jail is full

Meet the Lady who is using her fortune to create a network of restaurants run by inmates

Action urged after convicts’ safety found to have worsened significantly since 2016

Chief inspector says inmates ‘held in dangerous, disrespectful, drug-ridden jail’

Johnson statement the latest attempt to resolve issue of Nigerians jailed in UK

Criminal justice groups call for shift of focus from drugs to crowding

Competition helps improve jail standards but early advantages start to fade

Report on private groups’ record raises questions over ability to manage offenders

Comments contradict report blaming Liverpool jail’s problems on lack of resources

Inspectors findings at Peterborough adds to signs of a growing crisis in English jails

Ministers warned to cut inmates or boost cash as ‘disastrous’ conditions revealed

Overcrowding and building delays mean problem of prison violence ‘will not be resolved’

Group chief ‘ashamed’ when he saw undercover footage of staff abusing detainees

Estimated cost of £4.1bn a year if public sector pay increases in line with inflation

British government brought the case after union called for action in February

Damning report by inspector points to particular problems in youth prisons