Taxpayers are set to pay £4billion more than expected to build new prison places after the Tories botched their plans, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has warned.
Jails are projected to have a shortage of 12,400 prison places by the end of 2027 amid current expansion plans being “insufficient to meet future demand”, the National Audit Office said. The watchdog said the previous Conservative government failed to make sure policy changes bringing in longer jail sentences and boosting police numbers matched the space available in prisons to hold criminals.
Campaigners branded the findings “damning” and accused Tory politicians of being “dishonest” in promising to lock people up for longer but failing to say how much this would cost. The watchdog also said the then-government’s 2021 pledge to create an extra 20,000 cells spaces by building more prisons, temporary wings and refurbishing existing cell blocks is now not expected to be met until 2031 – around five years later than promised. As of September, a third (6,518) of the 20,000 had been made available, according to the NAO.
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Reasons behind delays include “unrealistic timelines” and overestimating the ability to get planning permission for three out of the six new prisons due to be built. Prison expansion plans are now expected to cost between £9.4billion and £10.1billion, which will be at least £4.2billion over previous estimates stated in 2021.
The Labour government was forced to release thousands of prisoners early from jail when it was first elected to power amid free jail spaces dwindling below 100 this summer.
Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, blamed governments and parliament for being “joint architects of a decade-in-the-making prisons crisis” as he called on policy and lawmakers to “set a fresh course, aimed at containing prison population growth in the short-term and reducing it in the medium to long-term”.
Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “This damning report lays bare the negligence of previous governments and their approach to penal policy. This has left taxpayers facing an eyewatering £4.2bn bill with no certainty on when the ongoing prison capacity crisis will end.
“Politicians have been dishonest with the public — promising to lock people up for longer but failing to provide the prison places necessary or being upfront about the costs of doing so. This cannot continue. The findings of this report should give impetus to the government’s sentencing review to bring forward bold proposals to place our use of imprisonment on a more sustainable and proportionate footing.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee which scrutinises government spending, said prisons were “already at the brink” and it was “unacceptable” that plans “beset with delays” would not meet future demand.
“The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has been in firefighting mode, prioritising short-term solutions to the crisis. These are not only expensive but also increase risks to prisoner, staff and public safety.”
Head of the NAO Gareth Davies said: “The Government must learn lessons from the current prison capacity crisis to ensure the long-term resilience and cost effectiveness of the prison estate.”
MoJ figures show there were 86,059 adult prisoners behind bars in England and Wales on Monday, slightly higher than the 86,038 recorded at the beginning of last week. The so-called operational capacity for English and Welsh men and women’s prisons is 88,852, indicating there is now cell space for 2,793 criminals.
Prisons minister James Timpson said: “This report lays bare the litany of failures which brought our prison system to the brink. This not only risked public safety but added billions in extra costs to taxpayers. We have already taken immediate action to address the crowding chaos engulfing our jails, and will now focus on improving conditions in the long-term. This includes shortly publishing a 10-year prison capacity strategy to put our jails on a sustainable footing.”