Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
The 2020 spending review included £4 billion in capital funding to support the provision of...
Conclusion
The 2020 spending review included £4 billion in capital funding to support the provision of 18,000 new prison places over four years. But beyond this isolated multi-year commitment, the one-year spending review settlement makes it difficult for the Ministry and its agencies to plan for the long term. The Ministry and HMPPS were confident that the planned prison places and temporary accommodation would be enough to meet the expected increase in the prison population to 96,000 prisoners by 2026 and that they will receive enough revenue funding to service this new capacity. They recognised that uncertainty remains in the system that could impact demand projections, including the effects of decisions of how the 20,000 new police officers are deployed.20 15 Committee of Public Accounts, Transforming courts and tribunals, Fifty-sixth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 976, 20 July 2018 16 Qq 14–17 17 Qq 51–53 18 The Legal Education Foundation, Digital Justice: HMCTS data strategy and delivering access to justice, October 2019 19 Qq 10–14 20 Qq 46, 58, 59, 60 12 Key challenges facing the Ministry of Justice
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
5.2 The department closely monitors prison population forecasts to ensure the prison estate has sufficient capacity to meet future demand, and regularly works with our partners across the criminal justice system (CJS), including the Home Office and Crown Prosecution Service, to coordinate initiatives to reduce crime. 5.3 Work continues to refine the department's understanding of the impacts of recruiting 20,000 additional police officers by 2022-23. MoJ is also on a Shared Outcomes Fund programme to track data at individual police force levels. A joint understanding of this data across CJS partners will be integral to identifying levers to manage demand on the system.