Prisons in England and Wales could run out of space to house inmates this week, the leader of Britain’s prison governors group has warned.
Andrea Albutt, president of the Prison Governors’ Association (PGA), said there are only around 300 spaces left in men’s jails as the UK’s prison population reached a record high.
On Friday, 88,000 prisoners were recorded occupying cells—the highest figure since records began in 1900.
Inmate numbers have increased by 10,000 within two years, with the female estate now running at 96 percent capacity and male jails running at more than 99.6 percent capacity.
According to the Telegraph, governors fear the number of convicted male criminals and suspects held on remand will hit its maximum capacity this week as the courts ramp up their sittings following the summer break.
Foreign Prison Cells
The PGA president was speaking on the eve of the organisation’s annual conference, where she will meet with other governors to discuss the crisis.
On Monday, she will address the booming population and fears that prisons—which are already in the grips of severe staff shortages—may not be able to cope with demand.
Last week, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk announced plans to rent prison spaces from foreign countries in order to address the increasing pressures on the prison system.
Speaking at the Tory Party conference in Manchester, he said the government intends to look “at the Norwegian example and explore renting overseas capacity.”
The plans that would see prisoners put in foreign jails would be delivered through legislation, which the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Ms. Albutt, who blamed longer prison sentences for contributing to the crisis, and said the plan to rent cells abroad demonstrated the system is “completely broken.”
“To publicly state we’re unable to look after our convicted citizens in their own country is an admission of abject failure,” she said.
She also warned that a survey into Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete concrete in jails could worsen the crisis.
“If found and we need to decant, we have literally nowhere to put prisoners because all our prisons are full to bursting every day.
“Although this may be a blessing in disguise by bringing the population crisis to a head,” she said.
The prison population is projected to increase to as many as 106,000 people by 2027.
Ministers have committed to a £3.8 billion building programme to create 20,000 extra places by the mid-2020s, but three proposed mega-jails have been delayed by local council planning refusals.
Pre-constructed Blocks
The last time prisons came so close to reaching full capacity was in June 2007 under Sir Tony Blair’s government.To cope with the crisis, it began an emergency early release of more than 1,500 prisoners before they had completed their sentences.
Around 25,000 “non-dangerous” prisoners serving under four years were eligible.
The MoJ has already ordered fast-track refurbishment of empty cells in prisons, including HMP Liverpool and HMP Birmingham and is putting 1,000 rapid deployment cells in 18 jails across the country.
These are pre-constructed blocks that can be dropped into spare land inside jails.
The MoJ has also changed the release rules for offenders serving under four years in jail so that they can be freed from jail earlier on electronic tags and subject to home curfews.
Hundreds have so far become eligible for the scheme.
The government has 400 police cells on permanent standby to take the overflow, some of which are already being used and could quickly fill up to capacity.
Responding to the capacity concerns, an MoJ spokesman said: “We are pressing ahead with the biggest expansion of prison places in over a century–investing £4 billion to deliver 20,000 extra places.
“We have already delivered 5,500 of these places and have also taken decisive action to bring on a further 2,600 places in the immediate term.”
