Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
In July 2021, the Department estimated that its court recovery plan and the increase in...
Conclusion
In July 2021, the Department estimated that its court recovery plan and the increase in police officers would result in a shortfall of 4,000 prison places by the end of 2023, over and above the 18,000 additional prison places that HM Treasury had already agreed to fund as part of the Department’s prison build programme.18 In the 2021 Spending Review, the Department secured funding for 2,000 more prison places, bringing total funding to £3.8 billion to deliver 20,000 new prison places by the mid-2020s, including six new prisons.19 The Department said that its strategy is to not only have enough prison places but to have the right types of prisons and in the areas where it most needs them, though it accepted it may not achieve this until the medium to long term.20
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 The government is committed to building as many prison places as are needed and is currently undertaking the largest prison build programme in a century - investing £3.8 billion to deliver 20,000 modern prison places by the mid-2020s. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has already delivered around 2,700 of these through a combination of refurbishments, installing temporary accommodation, repurposing the Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre back into a prison and the opening of HM Prison Five Wells. 4.3 The government continues to invest in critical maintenance projects to ensure as many prison places as possible are kept online and prisoners and staff live and work in a safe environment, as well as recruiting sufficient staff to manage the increase in prison population. Prison demand is sensitive to police activity, including police recruitment, charge volumes and the overall case mix, as well as the rate of recovery in the criminal courts. MoJ continues to monitor court activity and regularly updates its modelling of court recovery to ensure planning is based on the most up-to-date picture of likely demand. 4.4 In December 2021, the department published the Prisons Strategy White Paper, which sets out an ambitious vision for the prison system - one which protects the public by keeping serious offenders in a custodial setting and which also works to tackle the underlying causes of reoffending.