Males’s prisons in England and Wales may run out of area later this 12 months, the federal government has warned, because it introduced three new jails value £4.7bn will probably be constructed beginning this 12 months.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood revealed the growth plans in Downing Road alongside Amy Rees, the outgoing chief govt of His Majesty’s Jail and Probation Service (HMPPS).
Ms Rees outlined how the male jail inhabitants was at 99% capability and set to expire of room in November.
Politics newest: Recall circumstances modified for some prisoners
She highlighted points like longer common sentences and never sufficient new jail capability as contributing elements to the disaster.
A excessive variety of criminals being recalled to custody was additionally famous. Repeating earlier schemes to launch folks earlier of their sentences would “only buy us time”, Ms Rees stated.
Ms Mahmood went on to criticise the Conservatives, saying the state of affairs the UK discovered itself in was “shameful”.
She claimed Labour added 28,000 locations beneath Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s governments, whereas the 14 years of Tory-rule after that solely noticed 500 new locations.
The justice secretary then confirmed that £4.7bn could be invested to construct new prisons. The announcement comes forward of the spending overview and Ms Mahmood says it is going to permit three penitentiaries to start out development.
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Inside considered one of Britain’s most overcrowded prisons
Ms Mahmood stated final 12 months that £2.3bn could be spent on prisons, that means a complete of £7bn has been introduced by the brand new authorities.
The three new prisons are the identical as these introduced final 12 months, and alongside HMP Millsike which has already opened.
To alleviate the strain on prisons within the interim, the federal government stated it was going to restrict recall circumstances for some inmates.
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This contains prisoners serving as much as 4 years solely being topic to recall durations of 28 days, though repeat offenders and people at larger danger won’t be eligible for the restrict.
The plans come after the federal government’s controversial early launch scheme final 12 months, which noticed some inmates freed after serving solely 40% of their sentences, reasonably than the same old 50%.
In the meantime, the most recent weekly statistics for England and Wales confirmed the jail inhabitants stood at 88,087.
The determine is 434 under the final peak within the jail inhabitants of 88,521 inmates on 6 September 2024 – simply earlier than the early launch scheme started.
