Big interview: The prison system watchdog - Anne Owers, chief inspector of prisons

Three and a half years later, Owers has just issued an annual report on the state of prisons and, true to form, she hasn't minced her words.

She says there has been progress, but that prisons are "perilously close to full capacity".

She is particularly concerned about young people held in custody, especially in light of recent teenage deaths in prison (YPN, 26 January-1 February, p5). "You have to ask whether prison is the right place for some of these very disturbed young people," she says.

One of the things that she is pressing for very hard is a child-focused environment, particularly for under-18s. "These are children - they are difficult and damaged children - but they are still children under domestic and international law," says Owers. "You have got to have an appropriate regime that recognises the problems of adolescent behaviour."