In the first of our series with HMP Wandsworth, the governor Ian Bickers explains what the new autonomous prison plans mean for them.

Major reforms in prison life are set to be tried and tested in in the coming months at HMP Wandsworth as officers and their governor make the most of powers devolved to them from the Ministry of Justice.

HMP Wandsworth, in Heathfield Road, is one of six prisons named in this year’s Queen's Speech as a reform prison, giving it autonomy from the National Offender Management System (NOMS).

This gives it control over budgets, recruitment process and its education.

May 18: Wandsworth and High Down prisons first in line for changes as "biggest shake-up" of prison system is announced in Queen's Speech

Ian Bickers has been the governor at Wandsworth Prison for a year. He returns having spent two years as the deputy governor between 2011-13, and he is ready and raring to put his experience of prison life into a new set of policies and procedures.

Mr Bickers said: "We are responsible for our own destiny.

"A lot of the budget we have is centrally controlled, I'm told what I can and can't spend money on.

"If I think the food isn't good enough, I can't do anything about it.

"Now, they will come along and say there is your money, for health, for education, for food, and we will go away and decide how we want to do it."

For Mr Bickers, his first priority will be broken windows, a persistent issue as the weather warms up.

He said: "Prisoners will be violent, they will smash windows, and we are an old Victorian prison.

"The warmth generates frustration, and if you are locked up for 14 hours, prisoners will smash windows. It is not acceptable [to leave them broken] and it is not decent.

"We challenge the behaviour, and we charge the prisoner for the damage, but part of the problem is getting the work done so I am challenging that bit of the contract."

Employment at HMP Wandsworth currently operates with a 15 per cent vacancy rate and usually, the recruitment process takes up to a year, with four stages including an assessment day and a test before someone is offered a job.

Mr Bickers will now have control of the prison's strategy and aims to select within a day.

He said: "We are planning to interview people, we have not done that for many years.

"What people think of prisons does not match the reality, so we will bring them in to the prisons.

"We are even considering asking our trusted prisoners to speak to them about what they want from an officer."

The governor said he hopes to be able to recruit in the borough Part of the recruitment process problem is the centrally set starting salary of £23,000 but which Mr Bickers will soon be able to change.

As the control of everyday life filters down to those in the prison the warden has asked his staff to tell him what they think should change. He says no idea is off limits.

An 'anonymous autonomy' box lets officers add their thoughts to the list without being named, though most seem to want a coffee machine in the reception area.

Mr Bickers said: "We are allowed to fail, which is refreshing, we are not normally allowed to.

"We can push the boundaries, test things, make mistakes, it is all part of the process.

"It is giving them a blank piece of paper and that is sometimes really difficult to get rid of 14 years of prison service mentality and challenging it."