Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Paragraph: 63
It is not clear what impact increased court activity will have on the prison population,...
Conclusion
It is not clear what impact increased court activity will have on the prison population, and how MoJ and HMPPS intend to manage any potential influx as a result of increased court activity. The Committee are pleased to note that work has already begun on understanding the effects of renewed court activity; the MoJ should update the Committee on the progress of that work, and how they will manage any influxes in prison population that may result from increased court activity.
Paragraph Reference:
63
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
On 26 November, the department published updated prison population projections as National Statistics for 2020 to 2026. As the recently published prison population projections show, despite the decrease in recent months due to the COVID-19 impact in courts, over the 6-year projection horizon the prison population is projected to increase to 98,700 by September 2026. As the publication details, this is in large a result of the recruitment of an extra 20,000 police officers, which is likely to increase charge volumes and therefore increase the future prison population. Additionally, we are continually assessing our prison population projections to ensure we have enough capacity and will continue to update our plans as court activity increases. The government is committed to creating a modern prison estate that is fit for purpose, providing protection for the public and rehabilitating offenders and therefore as announced in the Chancellor’s Spending Review, £4 billion will be invested over the next four years to make significant progress in delivering 18,000 additional prison places across England and Wales by the mid-2020s. These 18,000 prison places include the 10,000 places being made available through the construction of four new prisons, the expansion of a further four prisons, refurbishment of the existing prison estate and the completion of our ongoing prison builds at HMP Five Wells and at Glen Parva. New programmes will also provide additional prison places and contribute to the 18,000. We will also invest £315m in capital funding next year to improve the existing estate. This will be supported by a further 1,000 temporary cells (Rapid Deployment Cells) which can accommodate offenders during maintenance and refurbishment work, as well as support shorter-term population pressures. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we have introduced temporary accommodation cells across the prison estate to increase space and help reduce the spread of coronavirus. 1,150 units have been installed at 29 prisons in the HMPPS estate and two privately managed (G4S) prisons. We have also taken additional measures to create the headroom needed to allow us to fully implement the compartmentalisation strategy. Alongside the careful release of low-risk offenders, as part of the End of Custody Temporary Release (ECTR) and Compassionate Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) schemes, we have been working to expedite remand cases, and expand the estate. We needed to limit the spread of COVID-19 in prisons while ensuring the public is protected. As at the end of September, 316 prisoners have been released under End of Custody Temporary Release or on compassionate ROTL. Further releases under ECTR have now been paused, although we are keeping this under review. Alongside this, we are developing a long-term prison estate strategy to: Ȥ ensure we meet our public protection obligations; Ȥ put the estate on a sustainable footing; Ȥ deliver the places we need at an acceptable standard of decency; Ȥ achieve lower levels of violence; and Ȥ focus on supporting rehabilitation.