UK To Build 4 New Prisons To Accommodate ‘Dangerous Offenders’
2 years ago 2 min read
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The UK government on Wednesday announced plans to construct four new prisons by 2031 to tackle the growing overcrowding crisis in the country.
The overcrowding led to the early release of thousands of inmates in 2024 as the prison population surged in recent years, especially in England and Wales, creating significant pressure on the system.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, while outlining the 10-year strategy, said it is aimed at ensuring that “there is always a place in our prisons for dangerous offenders.”
According to her, the initiative will include the creation of 14,000 additional prison spaces over the next seven years, with 6,500 of these coming from the four new facilities.
It forms part of a larger programme initiated by the previous Conservative government to deliver 20,000 new prison spaces. However, the projected cost of the scheme has now doubled to £10.1bn ($12.8bn)
Mahmood stated that the construction project and its sites are of “national importance,” however, she cautioned that these measures alone would not resolve the issue.
“We will build, but the sad situation here is we cannot build enough to keep up with the pace of demand, which is rising very, very quickly,” Mahmood told Times Radio.
According to her, “The last government pretended they could send people away for longer and longer without building the prisons they promised.
“They left our prisons in crisis, on the edge of collapse,” she added.
Official data released on Monday showed 86,089 prisoners currently housed in facilities with a capacity for 88,822 inmates across England and Wales.
Shortly after taking office in July, Mahmood introduced emergency measures to release inmates early, citing the discovery of only 700 available spaces in men’s prisons.
She described the system as being on the brink of collapse.
“I don’t want to be in a position where we ever do an emergency release of the kind that we’ve had to do,” Mahmood told Sky News.
“There are other operational measures that we might have to take to try and stabilize the prison system,” she added.
