Work to create 20,000 new prison places ‘significantly behind schedule’

The Government faces an ‘immediate crisis’ in prison capacity, Mark Day, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust said.

(Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

The Government’s commitment to creating 20,000 new prison places by the mid-2020s is “significantly behind schedule”, the Prison Reform Trust has said.

By June 5 this year, 5,202 new places had been created – including Britain’s newest prison HMP Fosse Way in Leicester – according to a new report published by the trust.

Figures released by the Ministry of Justice last month revealed more than 85,000 inmates are now locked up in England and Wales, and the number is projected to reach 93,200 by 2024.

The Government faces an “immediate crisis” in prison capacity, Mark Day, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust said, as he called for new ways to reduce demand on the system.

Mark Day, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “England and Wales has the highest imprisonment rate in Western Europe of 141 per 100,000 head of population. The prison population has risen by 80% in the last 30 years.

“The growth in the use of longer sentences, particularly at the more serious end of sentencing, has been one of the chief causes of the rise in the prison population over the past 30 years.

“Other factors include the increasing number of indeterminate sentenced prisoners, the changing offence profile of the prison population, and growing numbers of people being recalled to custody.

“More recently, population pressures have been fuelled by the recruitment of 20,000 additional police officers leading to more people coming before the courts.

“The end of pandemic, with courts working through the backlog of cases that built up during lockdown, has also placed additional pressure on the system. One of the legacies of this period is a remand population of around 14,600 people – more than one in seven in prison. This represents a 45% increase in just three years, and is at near-record level.

“The Government now faces an immediate crisis in prison capacity which it simply cannot build its way out of.

England and Wales has the highest imprisonment rate in Western Europe of 141 per 100,000 head of population

Mark Day, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust

“The Government urgently needs to look at ways to reduce demand on the system and give it the breathing space it desperately needs. It should start by limiting the use of short sentences and reducing the remand population, as well as increasing the uptake of and entitlement to home detention curfew.”

Steve Reed MP, Labour’s shadow justice Secretary, said re-offending has been allowed to “run rampant”.

He said: “Our prisons are now full, forcing judges to give non-custodial sentences, leaving dangerous criminals to roam the streets.

“Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives’ chaos in the criminal justice system is leaving the public at risk.”

Hundreds of rapid deployment cells have been rolled out at HMP Norwich and HMP Hollesley Bay, the Ministry of Justice said.

And the news comes six months after the Government announced Operation Safeguard, which allows for the use of up to 400 police cells to hold people overnight when there is not enough space in a local prison.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said he was confident the 20,000 target could be met.

He told the Today programme on Friday: “There are three further prisons where there are planning applications, we’ll know much more by the end of the year as those planning appeals come on.

“But we’ve got two that are done, there’s another one being built and those further ones will come on, as I say precisely when they come on will depend on the planning process.”

Meanwhile, a new bill became law this week which gives prison governors the power to release prisoners with mental health issues, substance misuse problems or who have far to travel home, on a Wednesday or Thursday instead of a Friday, when they would have just hours to access critical support before services shut for the weekend.

The Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Bill received Royal Assent on Thursday and will end the damaging race against the clock for prison leavers to get the help they need, the Ministry of Justice said.

Only prisoners who pass security checks will be considered eligible for release, with the final decision taken by prison governors when the Act comes into force in the coming weeks.

The next new prison will be HMP Millsike, which is being built next to HMP Full Sutton in East Yorkshire.

Planning approval is being sought for three other prisons across the country.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We have always been clear that delivery dates are contingent on external matters, including planning permission, but we remain committed to building these prisons as quickly as possible.

“More than 5,000 of the additional 20,000 prison places we are creating have already been delivered, including the brand new HMP Fosse Way which started accepting prisoners on time in May.”