Prisons' chief rejects call for action to tackle overcrowding
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.JASON BENNETTO
Crime Correspondent
The head of the Prison Service yesterday rebuffed suggestions by one of his directors that jails in England and Wales were likely to be full in a few weeks and that urgent contingency measures should be drawn up to cope with the overspill.
Richard Tilt, the acting director-general of the Prison Service, admitted there were problems with overcrowding, but insisted that new accommodation was being built.
Prison officers yesterday warned that overcrowding made rioting more likely and predicted the problem was about to get worse as the Government intended to cut their budgets by 5 per cent in next week's Budget.
Mr Tilt's comments follow the publication of a confidential letter by Alan Walker, the Prison Service's director of operations (South), who said that new analysis "indicates that there may be insufficient usable accommodation available during late November and early December, and between February and June 1996".
A record 52,444 people were being held in jails in England and Wales last Friday.
He went on to call an urgent meeting with the Prison Officers' Association and proposed to move new inmates into local prisons, which are usually used for people on remand, those newly sentenced prisoners, and long-term jails, such as Dartmoor.
But Mr Tilt, speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio, said: "We have an increasing prison population but we have been increasing the amount of accommodation. The population has gone up but the level of overcrowding is lower than it was at the beginning of the 1990s."
He added that the number of inmates was only about 700 more than the Prison Service expected and suggested that any talk of possible rioting or disturbances resulting from overcrowding was dangerous as it may give inmates ideas.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments