Lord Falconer, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said:

“Labour has long called for governors of successful prisons to be given greater autonomy and for prisons to become more rehabilitative so it is welcome that the Government is listening and suggesting moving in this direction but given their failure to date we await the details.

"It is also important that this takes place alongside a strengthened inspection regime, greater accountability and, crucially, measures to address the rising violence, self-harm and overcrowding across the prison estate.”

"The scandalous failure David Cameron condemns is his own. The Tories have had five years to improve our prisons and we have heard promises of “rehabilitation revolution” many times before. Instead, they have cut staff, closed effective jails, decreased transparency and presided over a crisis. While Ministers continue to ignore the appalling conditions in our prisons and with no additional funding provided it is unclear how these announcements will make any real difference.”