We are obviously in for months of political nonsense until the general election next year and criminal justice will sadly once again feature strongly as a political football. Both Tories and Labour have absolutely nothing sensible to say on the subject, as amply demonstrated yesterday on the issue of the crisis in our prisons. This from the Guardian:-
UK could rent space in foreign jails to ease shortage of cells
‘Half-baked’ plan unveiled at Tory conference is a sign of failure to tackle problem of overcrowding, say Labour and reformers
The UK will seek to rent prison space from foreign countries to combat the shortage of domestic jail places, under plans announced at the Conservative party conference.
The Tories said that they have already begun exploratory discussions with possible partners in Europe, with plans that would be introduced when parliamentary time permits.
The Conservatives cited the example of Norway and Belgium, which both struck similar deals with the Netherlands. But the announcement was described by prison reformers and Labour as indicative of a failure to find an alternative solution to the problem.
Under any agreement struck, inmates could be moved to another country provided the facilities, regime and rehabilitation met British standards. Those standards were recently deemed to be so poor that a German court refused to extradite a prisoner to the UK.
The lord chancellor and justice secretary, Alex Chalk, told the conference: “This government is doing more than any since the Victorian era to expand prison capacity.
“Alongside our extra 20,000 prison places programme, refurbishment of old prisons and rapid deployment cells, renting prison places in other countries will ensure that we always have the space to keep the public safe from the most dangerous offenders.”
Announcing the measure, the Conservatives said the average custodial sentence has increased by 57% since they entered power in the coalition government in 2010. While prison reformers argue that more should be done to keep people out of jail, the Tories said they were “committed to protecting the public by taking the most dangerous offenders off our streets for longer, by clamping down on crime, toughening sentences for the worst offenders, and increasing their time behind bars”.
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for penal reform, described the move as “desperation” on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “The government’s response to dangerous and growing levels of overcrowding in our prisons is a half-baked idea to rent foreign prison places. Prison leaders will be in despair at such a superficial response to their very real and urgent concerns.
“The red warning light of a looming capacity crisis has been flashing on the Prison Service dashboard for a number of months. Ministers can’t say they haven’t been warned. They urgently need to bring forward practical plans to reduce pressure on the system, including the executive release of some prisoners. The risks of not doing so are too perilous to ignore.”
England and Wales has the third highest prison population in Europe after Russia and Turkey, with 87,793 prisoners as of 29 September. That figure is projected to rise to 94,400 by March 2025 and to 106,300 by March 2027. The capacity of the entire prison estate on 29 September stood at 88,561.
Shabana Mahmood MP, the shadow justice secretary, said: “There’s no greater symbol of the way in which the Tories have run our criminal justice system into the ground than the fact they are ‘exploring’ putting prisoners in foreign jails because they are incapable of building the prisons places this country needs to keep our people safe.
“After 10 justice secretaries in 10 years, we saw no acknowledgment of their failings across the criminal justice system – from the crumbling prison estate, to the courts backlog and sky-high reoffending rates.
“Labour will get on top of the prison crisis by delivering all 20,000 prison places we need, driving down the courts backlog by increasing the number of crown prosecutors to put criminals behind bars and by opening specialist rape courts.”
Reacting to the speech by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk, this afternoon at the Conservative Party Conference and plans to rent spaces in foreign prisons, Pia Sinha, Chief Executive of the Prison Reform Trust said:
“The government’s response to dangerous and growing levels of overcrowding in our prisons is a half-baked idea to rent foreign prison places. Prison leaders will be in despair at such a superficial response to their very real and urgent concerns. The red warning light of a looming capacity crisis has been flashing on the prison service dashboard for a number of months. Ministers can’t say they haven’t been warned. They urgently need to bring forward practical plans to reduce pressure on the system, including the executive release of some prisoners. The risks of not doing so are too perilous to ignore.”
The Ministry of Justice has predicted that the prison population in England and Wales will rise to 94,400 by March 2025. In the longer term, they predict that it could reach as high as 106,300 by March 2027. This projected increase in the prison population is due to a rise in the number of police officers—which could increase the number of people charged of offences; and changes in sentencing policy which are leading to people being held in prison for longer.
The government had planned to build an additional 20,000 prison places by the mid-2020s to meet this increased demand. However, it was reported last week that these plans won’t be completed until 2030.
In June, the government admitted that, even if all of the government’s planned capacity projects were delivered on time, there would still be a short fall of 2,300 prison places by March 2025.
The prison system is already under emergency measures with 400 police cells put on permanent standby to hold remanded or sentenced prisoners.
Nearly 10,700 prison places have been closed since 2010—many of them old and/or dilapidated. At the same time, nearly 11,000 places have been created, a net increase of just 300 prison places.
The prison population in England and Wales reached 87,793 people on Friday 29 September—a 7% increase since the start of the year—nearly 5,600 more people. Meanwhile, useable capacity across the whole estate stood at 88,561. However, it is understood that capacity within the adult male prison estate is especially acute, with reports suggesting that there are just 258 places remaining.
‘Half-baked’ plan unveiled at Tory conference is a sign of failure to tackle problem of overcrowding, say Labour and reformers
The UK will seek to rent prison space from foreign countries to combat the shortage of domestic jail places, under plans announced at the Conservative party conference.
The Tories said that they have already begun exploratory discussions with possible partners in Europe, with plans that would be introduced when parliamentary time permits.
The Conservatives cited the example of Norway and Belgium, which both struck similar deals with the Netherlands. But the announcement was described by prison reformers and Labour as indicative of a failure to find an alternative solution to the problem.
Under any agreement struck, inmates could be moved to another country provided the facilities, regime and rehabilitation met British standards. Those standards were recently deemed to be so poor that a German court refused to extradite a prisoner to the UK.
The lord chancellor and justice secretary, Alex Chalk, told the conference: “This government is doing more than any since the Victorian era to expand prison capacity.
“Alongside our extra 20,000 prison places programme, refurbishment of old prisons and rapid deployment cells, renting prison places in other countries will ensure that we always have the space to keep the public safe from the most dangerous offenders.”
Announcing the measure, the Conservatives said the average custodial sentence has increased by 57% since they entered power in the coalition government in 2010. While prison reformers argue that more should be done to keep people out of jail, the Tories said they were “committed to protecting the public by taking the most dangerous offenders off our streets for longer, by clamping down on crime, toughening sentences for the worst offenders, and increasing their time behind bars”.
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for penal reform, described the move as “desperation” on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “The government’s response to dangerous and growing levels of overcrowding in our prisons is a half-baked idea to rent foreign prison places. Prison leaders will be in despair at such a superficial response to their very real and urgent concerns.
“The red warning light of a looming capacity crisis has been flashing on the Prison Service dashboard for a number of months. Ministers can’t say they haven’t been warned. They urgently need to bring forward practical plans to reduce pressure on the system, including the executive release of some prisoners. The risks of not doing so are too perilous to ignore.”
England and Wales has the third highest prison population in Europe after Russia and Turkey, with 87,793 prisoners as of 29 September. That figure is projected to rise to 94,400 by March 2025 and to 106,300 by March 2027. The capacity of the entire prison estate on 29 September stood at 88,561.
Shabana Mahmood MP, the shadow justice secretary, said: “There’s no greater symbol of the way in which the Tories have run our criminal justice system into the ground than the fact they are ‘exploring’ putting prisoners in foreign jails because they are incapable of building the prisons places this country needs to keep our people safe.
“After 10 justice secretaries in 10 years, we saw no acknowledgment of their failings across the criminal justice system – from the crumbling prison estate, to the courts backlog and sky-high reoffending rates.
“Labour will get on top of the prison crisis by delivering all 20,000 prison places we need, driving down the courts backlog by increasing the number of crown prosecutors to put criminals behind bars and by opening specialist rape courts.”
--oo00oo--
PRT comment: Alex Chalk’s speech to Conservative Party ConferenceReacting to the speech by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk, this afternoon at the Conservative Party Conference and plans to rent spaces in foreign prisons, Pia Sinha, Chief Executive of the Prison Reform Trust said:
“The government’s response to dangerous and growing levels of overcrowding in our prisons is a half-baked idea to rent foreign prison places. Prison leaders will be in despair at such a superficial response to their very real and urgent concerns. The red warning light of a looming capacity crisis has been flashing on the prison service dashboard for a number of months. Ministers can’t say they haven’t been warned. They urgently need to bring forward practical plans to reduce pressure on the system, including the executive release of some prisoners. The risks of not doing so are too perilous to ignore.”
The Ministry of Justice has predicted that the prison population in England and Wales will rise to 94,400 by March 2025. In the longer term, they predict that it could reach as high as 106,300 by March 2027. This projected increase in the prison population is due to a rise in the number of police officers—which could increase the number of people charged of offences; and changes in sentencing policy which are leading to people being held in prison for longer.
The government had planned to build an additional 20,000 prison places by the mid-2020s to meet this increased demand. However, it was reported last week that these plans won’t be completed until 2030.
In June, the government admitted that, even if all of the government’s planned capacity projects were delivered on time, there would still be a short fall of 2,300 prison places by March 2025.
The prison system is already under emergency measures with 400 police cells put on permanent standby to hold remanded or sentenced prisoners.
Nearly 10,700 prison places have been closed since 2010—many of them old and/or dilapidated. At the same time, nearly 11,000 places have been created, a net increase of just 300 prison places.
The prison population in England and Wales reached 87,793 people on Friday 29 September—a 7% increase since the start of the year—nearly 5,600 more people. Meanwhile, useable capacity across the whole estate stood at 88,561. However, it is understood that capacity within the adult male prison estate is especially acute, with reports suggesting that there are just 258 places remaining.
"A few days after the Chief Inspector called for the closure of one in ten prisons in England and Wales, there will be wry smiles as Europeans read that Brits would be moved to their country’s jails only if they meet British standards. They’ll be asking if they have any poor enough to pass the test."
ReplyDeleteRob Canton from his latest blog post on the subject. https://reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2023/10/unfree-movement-of-people.html
Andy Keen-Downs, Pact CEO, has this evening condemned the news that the Government is considering renting prison places abroad.
ReplyDeleteHe said: “Renting prison places abroad is an indication that the capacity problem has now reached crisis point. It’s the entirely predictable culmination of years of underinvestment in our prisons, coupled with a justice system that simply locks up too many people.
“This is a deeply embarrassing moment for the Government and raises all sorts of questions about how our political leaders have failed to grip the challenges within our criminal justice system.
“As well as considering the impact on prisoners’ rehabilitation and the cost to the taxpayer, we should also pause to think about the families and children affected by this policy. How will family visits be maintained if we send prisoners abroad? How will wives, partners and children be able to stay in touch and support loved-ones through a sentence?
“Prisoners who stay in touch with family are 39% less likely to reoffend – anything that undermines family contact undermines efforts to cut crime and deliver safer communities for everyone.”
How ironic that prisoners could be shipped abroad to serve their sentence yet refused permission to leave the country when on licence.
ReplyDeletePrisons and Probation are a joke, but nobody is laughing.
They're just desperate to get someone, anyone, to Rwanda methinks.
ReplyDelete'Getafix
Never has the phrase "the cure is worse than the disease" been more apt. Scrapping PSS would be a less expensive and more worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteBest not to react to every daft suggestion but wait until a daft plan is to be implemented before actively withdrawing cooperation or campaigning against it - past experience shows probation folk have worn ourselves out trying to stop stupid policies with appeals to reason.
ReplyDeleteNot only is it a half baked idea but also contradicts the Brexit promise to "Take back control" from Europe....by renting cells in European countries! Good Grief 😔😔😔
ReplyDeletetory conference: I can't work out if my blood is boiling ... or if I'm chilled to bone
ReplyDeletethey're a terrifying pack of deluded fantasists with a lot of power & unlimited access to our £taxes
He was good they pulled out all the stops his wife introduced him. Don't forget no mandate unelected pm he can say what he likes. The sad thing is he has adopted a social policy agenda so people soften. They won't deliver of course not. Boris didn't go then the Tory new clown darling is farage. They will decimate public services and probation will feature as a cut to Tories naked civil service. Let's hope Tory voting staff feel the reality and vote labour but let's hope starmer pulls something real out of his plans so we all get behind change for good
DeleteBut they know what a woman is.
ReplyDeleteI am no fan of the Tories and never have been but Labour don't know what a woman is and have, therefore, lost the trust of many voters, not least many left wing adult human females.
ReplyDeletehttps://insidetime.org/urgent-have-a-say-on-the-state-of-prisons/
ReplyDeleteThe House of Commons all-party Justice Select Committee announced last month that it is opening an inquiry into the prison population and the capacity of the estate. It comes after the number of prisoners in England and Wales rose by more than 5,000 since the start of this year, putting pressure on jails and leading to prisoners being held in police cells – a system known as ‘Operation Safeguard’.
DeleteMembers of the public, including serving prisoners, are being invited to submit their views in writing.
The deadline is October 20, but the Committee has told Inside Time that it will still consider submissions from serving prisoners if they are received up to around two weeks later. Submissions may be posted to: Justice Select Committee, House of Commons, Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA.
The questions to which the MPs are seeking answers are:
What changes are expected in the size and composition of the prison population in the short, medium, and long term?
What is the Ministry of Justice’s current strategy for safely and effectively managing the prison population, and how effective is it?
Is the Government’s commitment to deliver 20,000 prison places by the mid-2020s achievable and sufficient to manage the projected demand for places?
To what extent has the activation of Operation Safeguard and the rolling out of Rapid Deployment Cells helped to manage capacity pressures?
What are the implications of the rise in the prison population for the resources required to manage prisons safely and effectively?
What is HM’s Prison and Probation Service’s current capacity to manage overcrowding safely and effectively?
What is the impact of an ageing infrastructure and are Victorian prisons fit for purpose?
Sir Bob Neill, who chairs the committee, said: “Overcrowding remains an issue within the prison estate, particularly in male local prisons… This is a timely inquiry and the Justice Committee intends to take evidence from a wide range of stakeholders to examine the effectiveness of the Ministry of Justice’s current strategy for safely and effectively managing the prison population.”
It's HMPPS, so it also an opportunity for anyone working in probation to have a say.
DeleteUSE IT!
'Getafix
Jim, I think you need a “do not complete the probation staff survey” post. #OneHmpps Amy Rees, Kim Thornden-Edwards and Co don’t listen whatsoever. If they did we’d be detached from the prisons and civil service already.
ReplyDeleteI have completed the survey, and in answer to the question ‘What one thing would you change about the Probation Service’ I wrote that we should detach from the Civil Service and HMPPS. In my opinion, that is more effective than not completing it
DeleteOf course one solution to the prison overcrowding problem would be to stop sending so many people to prison. Although if I was serving a sentence I would rather serve it in Germany who recently refused to deport a man because of the appalling state of UK prisons. And to finish do not complete the staff survey. A mild protest but one that will rankle with the arseholes in charge. Another would be to submit hundreds of subject access requests relating to whatever you fancy, as long as it’s about you. That should grind things down a little more.
ReplyDelete