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The UK’s justice secretary has warned that even with plans to add 14,000 new prison places, the country could still face space shortages in the near future. Shabana Mahmood emphasised that “building alone is not enough” to address the critical lack of capacity in the UK’s jails during a recent BBC interview. The issue has been exacerbated in recent months, with the summer witnessing prisons reaching capacity with just 100 spaces left. Since then, thousands of prisoners have been released early, freeing up some space.
The government has a 10-year strategy in place to deal with overcrowding in prisons, which includes details of how 14,000 more places in Wales and England will be created by 2031. The strategy, called a “Plan for Change,” specifies the construction of four new prisons, which will result in 1,600 cells. A similar number of cells will also be added by creating new units on current prison sites.
Other measures to alleviate the problem include the construction of 1,000 temporary cells, with a lifespan of 15 years, while another 1,000 cells will receive refurbishment. Despite these extensive measures, Mahmood has admitted that another overcrowding crisis is still possible since the demand for cell space is increasing faster than it can be met.
Recent years have seen the UK’s prison population swell due to the imposition of tougher sentences and court backlogs, with the number of prisoners increasing by roughly 4,500 per year. The government says it has already secured £2.3bn to build the four new prisons until 2026. However, to bring the prison estate into a fit state would cost an estimated £2.8bn within the next five years, more than double its present maintenance costs
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