Message to Minister

1. The Problem

Minister warns prison space may run out despite expansion plans

The justice secretary has said even under the government's plans to open 14,000 more prison places, they could still run out of space over the next few years. Shabana Mahmood told the BBC that "building alone is not enough" to deal with the critical lack of space in UK jails. The government is publishing its 10-year strategy to deal with overcrowding in prisons - including more details of how it will create 14,000 more places in England and Wales by 2031. It comes after prisons were just 100 spaces away from reaching full capacity over the summer. (From BBC news website.)

2. The Narrative

By managed decline or by cavalier incompetence, probation has gone. What's left of it has become part of the problem rather then offering any solution. It's back filling prisons, impacting severely on the parole board, and costing too much police time rounding up all those that have been recalled. It doesn't manage risk any more, it's running away from it. Blame Grayling, blame NAPO, blame managers and an inexperienced workforce. Blame excessive caseloads, burnout and sickness levels. Blame those that don't give a toss about the service itself but see it as a catapult for self advancement. Blame whatever, but it's the model that's wrong. It's the policies that have created the current model that are wrong.

What's coming next isn't going to help either. More community based punishment will only serve to cement probation within the prison service. Punished by the prison service, or punished by the probation service, and those that are released on licence must still be seen to be serving their punishment (not sentence) in the community. The current model is corrosive, and I feel so sad that a service with such a positive, meaningful and worthwhile history has ended up where it is today. ('Getafix a contributor) 

3. The Solution:-

Sort Probation Out!

4. Others agree:-

Billions earmarked for new jails would be better invested in probation

The Howard League has responded to the government’s plans to open up 14,000 more prison places by 2031, outlined in a new 10-year strategy announced today (Wednesday 11 December).

Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said:

 “We cannot build our way out of this crisis. The billions of pounds earmarked for opening new jails would be better invested in securing an effective and responsive probation service, working to cut crime in the community.

“Problems in prisons spill out into the towns and cities around them, and new jails put added strain on local public services. When violence and self-harm are rife behind bars, it is hardly surprising that proposals to build more prisons meet significant opposition from residents living nearby.

“This is why the forthcoming review of sentencing is so important. Unless we see concerted action to make sentences proportionate and reduce demand on the system, this crisis will deepen and leave an even bigger mess for future generations to tackle.”

Projections published last week by the Ministry of Justice show that the number of people in prison could rise to as high as 105,200 by March 2029. On Monday, the population stood at 86,089.

The prison system is severely overcrowded, with more than half of jails in England and Wales holding more people than they are designed to accommodate. A long line of official inspection reports published in recent months have revealed how rising numbers are contributing to dire conditions, with many people in prison spending hours on end locked inside their cells with nothing to do.

The prison population projections came only a day after the National Audit Office (NAO) warned that there will be a continued risk to capacity in prisons, because so many jails are in poor condition. A quarter of prison places – 23,000 – do not meet fire safety standards and HM Prison and Probation Service’s backlog of maintenance works has doubled to £1.8bn in the last four years. (Howard League)