Pia Sinha

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Pia Sinha
Born1971or1972(age 52–53)
India
CitizenshipBritish
OccupationChief executive
Employer Prison Reform Trust

Pia Sinha (born 1971or1972) [1] is the Chief Executive of the Prison Reform Trust. [2] She was formerly a prison governor and a psychologist working in prisons.

Contents

Background

Sinha was born in the north of India. She moved with her family to the United Kingdom when she was 14 years old. [3] At least some of her childhood was spent in Bombay [4] and she moved from the city to Harrow, North London. Following her schooling, at university she studied psychology and economics. [3]

Career

Early in her career, Sinha managed a pub in Islington, London with her husband. [5]

Sinha started working in the Prison Service in 1999 as a higher psychologist at a younger offenders' institute and prison. She then worked as a psychologist at another prison, and following this she worked at HMP Wormwood Scrubs. She then held deputy governorships at three prisons. [6]

Sinha's first prison governor role was at HMP Thorn Cross in Cheshire. [7] She was first woman of Asian descent to be the governor of a prison in the UK. [4]

Sinha became the governor of HMP Risley in 2016; in her time at the prison she dealt with very high levels of novel psychoactive substance abuse by prisoners. [7] In 2017, she became the director of HMP Liverpool, which at the time of her arrival had rat infestations and which she changed considerably in order to make the prison more hygienic and behaviour more orderly. [8]

After working as the governor of HMP Liverpool, Sinha worked in probation service reform at the UK Civil Service, before working as the head of women's prisons at the UK Civil Service. [8]

In 2023, Sinha took up the position of Chief Executive of the Prison Reform Trust. In 2025, she explained her view that a large number of female prisoners should not be in prison in an interview with Channel 4 News. [9]

Also in 2025, Sinha was appointed an adviser to the Women's Justice Board of the UK Government, which focuses, amongst other things, on reducing the number of women in prison and women's reoffending. [10]

References

  1. ↑ Chakelian, Anoosh (2023-11-08). "Pia Sinha: how criminal gangs are taking over prisons". New Statesman. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  2. ↑ "Our staff". Prison Reform Trust. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  3. 1 2 "Desert Island Discs - Pia Sinha, Director Prison Reform Trust - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  4. 1 2 Sutton, Jon. "'We need a reasoned, evidence-based debate about what actually works with prisons' | BPS". British Psychological Society. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  5. ↑ Chakelian, Anoosh (2023-11-08). "Pia Sinha: how criminal gangs are taking over prisons". New Statesman. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  6. ↑ "Our staff". Prison Reform Trust. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  7. 1 2 "The female psychologist running Risley men's prison". BBC News. 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  8. 1 2 Hymas, Charles (2023-06-21). "'Colleagues shut me in a room with a predatory offender': How I transformed Britain's worst jail". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  9. ↑ "Pia Sinha: Why our prisons are broken and how to fix them | WTCTW Podcast". Channel 4 News. 2025-04-09. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  10. ↑ "Women's Justice Board begins plans to send fewer women to prison". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
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