Prison population hits record high in week before early release scheme starts

The prison population has reached a new record high as ministers are reported to be considering renting jail cells in Estonia to ease overcrowding.

Official figures showed there were 88,521 people behind bars on Friday, 171 more than the previous record set at the end of last week.

The prison population has risen by 1,025 people over the past four weeks and now stands at its highest level since weekly population data was first published in 2011, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

The sharp rise is likely to have been driven by the number of people remanded in custody or given jail sentences following the recent disorder across parts of the country.

The latest figures come just days before the UK Government’s temporary early release scheme is due to come into effect on September 10.

Overcrowding

In July, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to cut the proportion of sentences inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40% as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said overcrowding had pushed jails to the “point of collapse”.

The policy will not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences.

The Government is also reported to be investigating the possibility of sending some inmates to prisons in Estonia to increase capacity in the short term.

According to reports in The Daily Telegraph, Ms Mahmood is expected to meet her Estonian counterpart Liisa Pakosta next week to discuss the leasing of cells.

Speaking to broadcasters on Friday, Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle did not deny the reports, but said it was not part of her own ministerial responsibilities.

She said: “The last government closed loads of prison places and didn’t replace any of them, so I think that colleagues in the MoJ will be considering anything that they can to alleviate the problem.

“What we cannot have is people who are convicted of perhaps violent or serious crimes not being able to be in jail.”

In the longer term, the Government is expected to bring forward plans to build more prison places in the near future.

At last year’s Conservative Party conference, then-justice secretary Alex Chalk said he was in discussions with other European countries about the possibility of renting prison cells for British offenders as a way to ease overcrowding.

Estonia was understood at the time to be one of those countries, while Ms Mahmood – then shadow justice secretary – said the proposal was a “symbol of the way in which the Tories have run our criminal justice system into the ground”.