Slopping out
Encyclopedia
Slopping out is the emptying of bucket
s of human waste
when the cell
s are unlocked in prison
s in the morning. Inmates without a toilet
in the cell have to use a bucket or chamber pot
while locked in during the night. The reason that some cells do not have toilets is that they date from the Victorian era
and were therefore never originally designed to have toilets. As a result, there is no space in which to put a toilet, together with the expense and difficulty of installing the necessary plumbing.
Slopping out was allegedly abolished in England and Wales
by 1996, although some sources maintain prisons inspector Nick Hardwick has stated that it persists in some places such as Gloucester gaol. It was scheduled to be abolished in Scotland by 1999. Due to budget restraints the abolishment was delayed, and by 2004 prisoners in five of Scotland's sixteen prisons still had to slop out. Slopping out ended in HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont
in 2007, leaving HM Prison Peterhead
as the last prison where prisoners do not have access to proper sanitation, as 300 prisoners use chemical toilet
s due to the difficulty of installing modern plumbing in the prison's granite structure.
Slopping out is still in practice in prisons in the Republic of Ireland
. However speaking at the launch of the Irish Human Rights Commission's Annual Report for 2009, the Green Junior Minister for Integration, Mary White said it was time to move on from the Victorian practice. A new prison being commissioned in North Dublin, the first phase of which opens in 2014, will see the move towards the end of slopping out.
Bucket
A bucket, also called a pail, is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone, with an open top and a flat bottom, usually attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail. A pail can have an open top or can have a lid....
s of human waste
Human waste
Human waste is a waste type usually used to refer to byproducts of digestion, such as feces and urine. Human waste is most often transported as sewage in waste water through sewerage systems...
when the cell
Prison cell
A prison cell or holding cell or lock-up is a small room in a prison, or police station where a prisoner is held.Prison cells are usually about 6 by 8 feet in size with steel or brick walls and one solid or barred door that locks from the outside. Many modern prison cells are pre-cast. Solid doors...
s are unlocked in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
s in the morning. Inmates without a toilet
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
in the cell have to use a bucket or chamber pot
Chamber pot
A chamber pot is a bowl-shaped container with a handle, and often a lid, kept in the bedroom under a bed or in the cabinet of a nightstand and...
while locked in during the night. The reason that some cells do not have toilets is that they date from the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
and were therefore never originally designed to have toilets. As a result, there is no space in which to put a toilet, together with the expense and difficulty of installing the necessary plumbing.
Slopping out was allegedly abolished in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
by 1996, although some sources maintain prisons inspector Nick Hardwick has stated that it persists in some places such as Gloucester gaol. It was scheduled to be abolished in Scotland by 1999. Due to budget restraints the abolishment was delayed, and by 2004 prisoners in five of Scotland's sixteen prisons still had to slop out. Slopping out ended in HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont
Polmont (HM Prison)
Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Polmont is the largest of its kind in Scotland. Despite its name, the institution is located in Reddingmuirhead in the Falkirk region, and not in Polmont....
in 2007, leaving HM Prison Peterhead
HMP Peterhead
HMP Peterhead is a prison in the town of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.Peterhead convict prison was built around August 1888, and was designed to hold 208 prisoners. It was to be Scotland's only convict prison Occupancy averaged at around 350 however, until peaking at 455 in 1911...
as the last prison where prisoners do not have access to proper sanitation, as 300 prisoners use chemical toilet
Chemical toilet
A chemical toilet is a toilet which uses chemicals to deodorize the waste instead of simply storing it in a hole, or piping it away to a sewage treatment plant. Common types include aircraft lavatory, some passenger train toilets and the portable toilets used on construction sites and at large...
s due to the difficulty of installing modern plumbing in the prison's granite structure.
Slopping out is still in practice in prisons in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. However speaking at the launch of the Irish Human Rights Commission's Annual Report for 2009, the Green Junior Minister for Integration, Mary White said it was time to move on from the Victorian practice. A new prison being commissioned in North Dublin, the first phase of which opens in 2014, will see the move towards the end of slopping out.