The prison and probation service has only created a third of the 20,000 additional places promised, exposing significant delays in addressing the overcrowding crisis in England.
A damning report by the NAO reveals that government plans to expand the prison estate will cost 4.2bn more than initially forecasted and are running five years behind schedule.
Despite the government's pledge in 2021 to create 20,000 new cell spaces, the report predicts a looming shortage of 12,400 places by 2027.
The NAO attributes the overcrowding crisis to the previous Conservative government's failure to align policy changes with the actual prison capacity.
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