UK Fast-Tracks £110 Million for New Prison Cells as 4,500 Early Releases Loom
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 31
UK Fast-Tracks £110 Million for New Prison Cells as 4,500 Early Releases Loom
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 31
Summary
£110 million from existing budgets will be rushed into converting unused prison offices, laundry rooms and storage areas into hundreds of cells in England and Wales.
The move comes with prisons near maximum capacity and ministers under fire over an early-release plan now expected to free about 4,500 inmates in stages from October.
Tuesday’s parliamentary update will also tighten sentencing changes by blocking hundreds more dangerous offenders from early release, speeding foreign-offender removals and addressing IPP sentences.
The package sits within a £7 billion plan to deliver 14,000 prison places by 2031; ministers say 3,200 places have already been added and a 1,700-inmate Lancashire jail has been contracted.
Opposition criticism remains sharp, with Conservatives saying there are 700 fewer prison places than a year ago and warning the release scheme still risks public safety.