Steve Barclay acknowledged there is “huge pressure” on the prison system but refused to confirm or deny reports that judges have been told not to jail some criminals due to prisons nearing capacity.
The Health Secretary told broadcasters that Justice Secretary Alex Chalk will address the issue in a statement to the Commons on Monday.
Lord Edis, the senior presiding judge in England and Wales, has ordered the sentencing of convicted criminals currently on bail to be delayed from Monday, The Times has reported.
Rapists and burglars could be among those whose sentencing is put off, the newspaper said.
Asked on Sky News if the reports are true, Mr Barclay said: “It’s a longstanding convention ministers don’t comment on leaks. The Lord Chancellor will make a statement to Parliament on Monday.”
Pressed over whether prisons are full, he conceded “they’re under huge pressure”.
But he said that is the case in “many countries”, adding it is due to the Government ensuring prisoners are in jail “for longer” and because of “pressures as a result of Covid”.
He also told the programme: “We have an absolute commitment to protect the public.”
He told broadcasters the judiciary makes independent decisions on sentencing but insisted the Government is overseeing the “fastest rollout of prison places”.
He told Times Radio: “There is pressure on the system, as there is in Ireland, as there is in France and a number of countries, as a consequence of the fact that jury trials were delayed during Covid, and that has meant there are additional numbers on remand.
“Decisions on sentencing are taken by the judiciary independently. What the Government is doing is expanding at pace the number of prison places that we have.”
The UK’s prison population has increased substantially since the Covid pandemic in 2020 and, according to the latest figures, there are now 88,016 prisoners.
As of October 6, capacity across the whole prison estate stood at 88,667.
Andrea Albut, president of the Prison Governors’ Association, recently told The Daily Telegraph that jails in England and Wales are “bust” of space, saying male facilities are running at more than 99.6% capacity and women’s are 96% full.
The Times quoted an anonymous senior judge as saying they had been “ordered/strongly encouraged” not to send to prison a defendant who appears before them on bail due to concerns the prison system is at capacity.
The Judicial Office, which supports the judiciary, said it would not comment on what was said during an internal meeting.
The independent body said it could not confirm whether new guidance on sentencing had been issued to judges.
Labour’s shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “After 13 years of failure with the Conservatives, we are now seeing the serious repercussions of continuously ignoring the warnings on the broken criminal justice system and a prison estate in chaos.
“The Tories are unable to get rapists behind bars and now the public know why.
“People up and down will be asking: if this Government can’t fulfil the basic duty of keeping criminals locked up, why are they still the Government?”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We are categorical that the most serious offenders should be sent to prison and that anyone deemed a risk to public safety is remanded in custody while awaiting trial. Reports to the contrary are false.
“This Government has done more than ever before to protect the public and keep sex offenders locked up for longer, ending automatic halfway release for rapists and serious violent offenders and sending rapists to prison for three years longer than in 2010.
“Following the pandemic and barristers’ strike, the criminal justice system has seen a significant spike in the prison population, with 6,000 more prisoners on remand than before the pandemic.
“While we are carrying out the biggest prison-building programme since the Victoria era, and have taken decisive action to expand capacity further by doubling up cells in the short-term, the prison estate remains under pressure.
“The Lord Chancellor will be meeting criminal justice partners later today and setting out a programme of reform in the coming days to ensure that we can continue to strengthen public protection by locking up the most dangerous criminals.”
Tana Adkin KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said judges would still follow sentencing guidelines for serious offences like violence or sexual violence that require immediate custody.
But she warned that prison overcrowding has reached a critical point in terms of judges managing ongoing cases.
“The current crisis is symptomatic after more than 15 years of disjointed central planning and underfunding for those tasked with delivering justice in our courts and keeping the public safe within our prison estate,” she said.
“Judges, barristers and solicitors continue working hard to ensure justice is delivered and safe outcomes for victims despite the acute strains on the prison and courts system.
“The overriding duty of any government is to safeguard its citizens from harm. Judges will continue to uphold that basic principle when faced with the current challenges our criminal justice system is experiencing.
“The management of cases, however, is especially difficult with diminished resources and with prison overcrowding that has reached a critical point.
“If we want prison sentences to work, we must have the capacity to punish wrongdoers, deter others and rehabilitate offenders who are imprisoned at great cost to the taxpayer as well as themselves and their families.”
