Latest news with #prisonPopulation
ABC News
09-07-2025
- ABC News
Could connection and culture reduce New South Wales's prison population?
New South Wales continues to have the highest indigenous prison population in the country... And the number is only increasing... Despite years of government initiatives. But a new program in western Sydney is having a big impact through connection and culture.
Times
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Times letters: Prison overcrowding and inmates' early release
Write to letters@ Sir, As you report (May 16), the number of prisoners being recalled while on probation has doubled in the past seven years and stands at 15 per cent of the prison population. This is largely because inexperienced probation officers with huge case loads choose the easiest and safest option of returning those who infringe their licence conditions to prison. It often has little to do with the risk they pose. This serves only to add to the overcrowding rather than rehabilitate the individual, so the government is right to select this group to reduce these pressures. However, the £4.7 billion to be spent on three new jails to house an extra 5,000 prisoners would be better invested in reducing recidivism
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Labour unveils plans to build three new jails amid warning male prisons will be full in five months
Labour has unveiled plans to build three new jails amid warnings men's jails could be completely full within five months. The Justice Secretary said prisons are currently operating at 99 per cent of their capacity and Britain risks a 'total breakdown of the justice system' if the issue is not addressed. Shabana Mahmood said the prison building programme will provide extra space for 1,400 prisoners. And in order to free up space before then, the government will change the rules so offenders serving sentences of between one and four years can only be returned to prison for a fixed 28-day period in a change of recall measures. The Ministry of Justice's interim permanent secretary, Amy Rees, also spoke at a Downing Street press conference today. She told journalists: 'The total prison population is 88,087 and the adult male estate is operating at approximately 99% of its capacity every year. 'On our current trajectory, the prison population rises by 3,000, and now we expect to hit zero capacity, to entirely run out of prison places for adult men, in November of this year.' Early release measures have 'only bought the service time', Ms Rees said, including the Government's decision to reduce early release to 40% of sentences. The prison population is rising by 3,000 each year, 'the equivalent of two large prions every single year', Ms Rees claimed. She added: 'Even with these measures in place, we will run out of prison places in just five months time.' The prison system has come close to activating Operation Early Dawn in recent weeks due to the rising population, Ms Rees said. The emergency measure involves an operational assessment being made each morning and throughout the day by the Prison Service, courts and police on which defendants can be transferred from police cells and taken to courts to ensure there is a safe and secure location if a defendant is remanded to custody. She continued: 'If capacity gets even tighter, as an exceptional measure, we would activate Operation Early Dawn. This means we convene a team at 5.30am every day to track each individual potentially coming into custody so that we can make sure there will be an available space for them. 'Early dawn was activated between August 9 to September 9 last year prior to the implementation of early releases. 'It was also previously activated in October 2023, March 2024 and May 2024. 'In recent weeks, we have come close to activating Early Dawn once again. If Operation Early Dawn is unable to manage the flow of prisoners, the situation becomes intolerable. 'We would at this stage, see the managed breakdown of the criminal justice system.' At the time, Conservatives accused the Government of deploying scare tactics, with one Tory Tory source saying: 'This is shameless scaremongering from the Labour Party that risks causing mass panic.' In exchange, Ms Mahmood blamed the Conservatives for failing to do enough to tackle the overcrowding crisis and for leaving jails in a parlous state. Labour has since refused to say how many criminals have been let out under the existing scheme, which came into force on September 10. On its first day there were sickening scenes of inmates celebrating outside prison gates after being freed, with some popping champagne corks and posing with luxury cars. Criminals thanked Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and vowed to be 'lifelong Labour voters'. One vowed to 'get lit' - intoxicated - to celebrate his unexpected freedom, while others said they were looking forward to tucking into fast food from McDonald's. Some of those released committed new offences within hours of getting out of jail, while others were let out by mistake. Jails in England and Wales were holding 88,087 inmates on Monday, with headroom of 1,355 places. Ministry of Justice forecasts suggest jails will run out of space again early next year, despite the opening of a new 1,500-bed jail HMP Millsike, near York, a month ago. The review is also expected to recommend discouraging judges and magistrates from imposing short jail terms of less than a year. In March Ms Mahmood confirmed that reform of short jail terms alone 'isn't going to be enough' to create space in the overcrowded prisons. 'We are filling prison spaces as fast as we can build them, and we know already we cannot build our way out of this crisis,' she said. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'This Government inherited a prison system in crisis, putting pressure on the entire justice system and ultimately putting the public at risk. 'And the Prime Minister has repeatedly been clear that that is completely unacceptable and that is why, as soon as the Government came into office, we took immediate action to relieve this pressure and pledged to build 14,000 new prison places. 'And our priority now is to put in place a long term strategy to ensure that no future government is ever left in this position again.' He said the sentencing review would ensure 'we always have prison places available for dangerous offenders and prisons aren't so full that they are simply a breeding ground for more crime'. Meanwhile the Prison Service is conducting a 'snap review' into the use of protective body armour for prison officers, and the use of tasers is being trialled in jails, after an attack on prison officers by Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi last month. The number of assaults on staff in adult prisons in England and Wales per year has reached its highest level in a decade, according to data from the Ministry of Justice. Today, the Prison Officers Association said two officers were injured in separate incidents at HMP Woodhill, where one of the officers was allegedly attacked by an inmate detained under the Terrorism Act 2008. The union also reported a prison officer had a TV thrown at him and a female officer sustained a broken arm after a prisoner faked an epileptic fit at Gartree Prison. POA general secretary Steve Gillan said: 'Escalating levels of violence are out of control in the prison service in England and Wales. 'We need action to protect prison officers before there is a fatality.'
