Bafta-winning screenwriter Jimmy McGovern has said going into young offender institutions to research his new drama left him believing that keeping inmates isolated from each other for long periods allowed staff to “sit on their backsides all day and do nothing”.

McGovern said he was shocked after visiting “appalling” facilities while researching the latest series of his BBC drama Time.

He told BBC North West Tonight those in young offender institutions (YOIs) were “banged up 23 hours a day” as part of a policy to stop offenders mixing, which gave officers an “excuse for being lazy”.

The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) said that criticism was “unfair” to call officers lazy – and the policy was essential due to a daily threat of serious violence.

Liverpool-born McGovern focused on adult prison estates in the first two series of BBC hit Time.

But his third series, which sees a young cast star alongside David Tennant and Siobhan Finneran, follows young offenders through a system which McGovern said had “got to be better”.

In researching the series, which he wrote with Samuel Bailey, McGovern decided to get a behind-the-scenes look inside real-life YOIs.

He said what he witnessed left him “truly shocked”.

“It is absolutely appalling,” he said.

“There’s young boys with enormous energy banged up 23 hours a day [and] not allowed out of the cells.

“They call them rooms, but they’re cells.

“And that’s because of the keep-apart system.”

The keep-aparts policy is a method of separating young offenders in a bid to cut down on violence.

The separation of young people in YOIs has been a topic of debate for a number of years – with the most recent review from HM Inspectorate of Prisons finding some held in YOIs were not permitted to leave their cells at all on some days, external.

McGovern said he recognised a need for “regimentation” in YOIs, but said he believed keep-aparts had increased following lockdown measures imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said he believed the policy had allowed officers to avoid their duties.

“It allows officers to sit on their backsides all day and do nothing,” he said.

“This happened before Covid, but Covid gave them the excuse to keep them banged up even more.

“After Covid, they didn’t want to see the kids, so it became worse.”

He said he did not believe an increased use of the policy was due to staffing and funding challenges.

“I’m afraid they’re lazy,” he said.

“I’ve met wonderful prison officers, but I’ve seen some lazy ones and the keep-apart system enables them to be lazy with an excuse for being lazy.”

He said officers should be able to handle fights among the offenders and described conditions as “feral”.

“They’re young boys bursting with energy [being] cooped up,” he said.

“When they get out, they want to fight, but [the staff] are prison officers. They should be able to handle that.”

He said he understood how “tough” the job was and that the young offenders in the facilities were “very, very difficult, so there has to be an element of regimentation [and] rules and regulations… but that’s your job”.

POA chairman Mark Fairhurst said the body shared some of the concerns raised by McGovern.

“I have the utmost respect for Jimmy’s work [and] he is right to highlight the serious problems within young offender institutions,” he said.

“YOIs are among the most violent prisons in the country.

“Prison officers routinely put themselves in harm’s way to prevent serious injury and save lives.

“Many of my members have suffered life-changing injuries and been forced to leave the service following vicious assaults.”

He said the young offenders were “not simply naughty schoolchildren”.

“Keep-aparts are an essential safety measure in an environment where serious violence is a daily reality.”

He said officers at YOIs were “paying the price” of a lack of investment and staffing and it was “unfair to suggest staff are lazy”.

“They are stretched to breaking point by chronic under-staffing and unmanageable workloads,” he said.

“Without serious investment in staffing, facilities and rehabilitation, we will continue to see violent and chaotic YOIs – and prison officers paying the price.”

The Ministry of Justice said it did not “recognise these claims about our hardworking prison staff”.

“Their dedication helps ensure young offenders are punished as appropriate while being supported into rehabilitation, and we will deliver on our commitment to give children in prison more time outside their room,” a spokesperson said.

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