Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood expressed grave concerns about the UK prison crisis, forecasting that by November there would be no spare cells as facilities operate at 99% capacity. Director General Amy Rees reported that the prison population is set to rise by 3,000 annually, equating to the addition of two large prisons worth of inmates. There are calls for government investment in modernising prisons and improving community sentencing rather than simply building new ones, which reflect long-term solutions rather than addressing immediate issues.
The total prison population is 88,087 and the adult male estate is operating at approximately 99% of its capacity every year.
Even with these measures in place, we will run out of prison places in just five months time.
The Government would be better off spending billions of taxpayers' money on modernising the prison estate, funding an under-resourced probation service.
To govern is to choose. There are 10,350 foreign criminals in our jails. 17,000 people are awaiting trial.
Collection
[
|
...
]