The prison system was close to collapse on a number of occasions between autumn 2023 and summer 2024, an independent review by former chief inspector of prisons, Dame Anne Owers, has found.
The report, which was published on Tuesday, said there was a systemic problem which has led to recurring prison capacity crises over the last 18 years.
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Dame Anne warned there is an urgent need for senior staff in the justice system to move from crisis management to a more strategic approach to avoid repeated issues.
The report also stressed the importance of having enough capacity in probation and other community services, as they are critical to prevent offending and reoffending.
The report, which was commissioned by Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood in February, also detailed the financial cost of the crisis.
It found the price of holding prisoners in police cells reached over £70m, while construction costs for new prisons nearly doubled to £10.1bn.
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Prisons struggling to ‘work effectively and safely’
Dame Anne said: “The scale, likelihood, risks, and consequences of the prison capacity crisis could not have been signalled more clearly, at every level of government.
“The response was last-minute short-term fixes rather than long-term solutions to the underlying problems.”
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She said the crises had spanned successive governments, and “seriously affected prisons’ ability to work effectively and safely”.
Rather than just invest in prisons themselves, the government should pour more money into community provision to help reduce offending and reoffending, she added.
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Other recommendations include:
• Putting in place a 10-year plan for capacity in probation and community services
• Setting up an independent body to provide advice and check the plans of prison and probation services
• Getting the HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Board to evaluate the Prison Service
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‘Close to total collapse’
Ms Mahmood, the justice secretary, said: “This report lays bare the disgraceful way the last Conservative government ran our prisons.
“They added less than 500 cells to the prison estate over 14 years, released over 10,000 prisoners early under a veil of secrecy, and brought our jails close to total collapse on countless occasions.”
She said the Labour government had opened 2,400 new cells since coming into office and was on track for 14,000 by 2031, and also pointed to sentencing reforms that could see some prisoners released earlier.
