Watchdog calls for ‘urgent improvement’ of high-security jail holding Charles Bronson

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A watchdog has called for a high-security jail holding notorious criminals like Charles Bronson to be put into emergency measures amid the high rate of attacks on prison officers and “chronic” staff shortages. Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor wrote to justice secretary Alex Chalk to issue an urgent notification for improvement at HMP Woodhill after an inspection found the Milton Keynes jail was “fundamentally unsafe”. The use of force against inmates was also “amongst the highest in the adult male estate” but leaders “had yet to take effective action to make the prison safer.” Drug use was a “serious problem”, with the jail having the sixth highest rate of positive mandatory test results among all prisons. “Ministers urgently need to get a grip on what has gone wrong.” Prisons Minister Damian Hinds said: “The findings of this report demonstrate the urgent need for improvement at HMP Woodhill and we will be working closely and quickly with the prison to set out how it can address these issues.” The findings come just over a month after Mr Taylor condemned HMP Bristol as one of the most unsafe prisons in England and Wales as he issued an urgent notification for improvement.