Home Office Still unfit for purpose

It appears that the head of the prison service, Phil Wheatley has admitted that his service has no idea of how many escaped prisoners have been recaptured. Originally he said he did not need to know because they know who they are looking for on a local level. This has unsurprisingly drawn incredulous remarks from both the media and opposition parties who find this position a bit bonkers.

The story developed over the day, and now Phil Wheatley says there is an urgent need for a database. It seems that this is the case so hat he no longer has to face the incredulity he has faced today, rather than the more obvious reason that you need the feedback to know what is going on. We need to know how many people are left to catch, and of what class of criminal they are in order to know how big the problem is. The fact that he thinks he needs a database as some sort of PR exercise rather than the more obvious management feedback, indicates that he does not understand why he is doing what he is doing and goes to show just how bad things in the Home office really are. It is clearly still not fit for purpose, and as John Reid does not appear to have made it better I think it is safe to say that the Home office will have ended another ministerial career early. I wonder if the betting prices on John Reid becoming Leader if the Labour party will start to drift out now on the betting markets.

You can read the BBC's article here, and the Telegraphs here.