Overcrowding in prisons could lead to growing levels of violence behind bars and more crime on Britain’s streets, a watchdog has warned.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said he is “really concerned” about the knock-on effects of jails in England and Wales getting close to capacity.
It comes after campaigners accused the Government of being “significantly behind schedule” in its pledge to build 20,000 more prison places by the mid-2020s amid warnings that jails are close to being “full”.
The risk is, of course, as soon as they leave the jail, that they can revert back to their reoffending ways, and that simply creates more victims of crime
Outlining the findings of his latest report, Mr Taylor said overcrowding and pressures on the population in jails is “emerging as one of the biggest issues in our prisons”.
Six months ago ministers announced that up to 400 police cells would be used to hold prisoners overnight when there was not enough space in jails as they enacted a contingency plan known as Operation Safeguard.
At a briefing on Wednesday, Mr Taylor said: “Where prisoners are in very cramped conditions, where they’re not let out of their cells for anything like enough time, of course there is potentially a risk that we may get increasing levels of violence.”
He told reporters public protection is “critical”, adding that if prisoners are not getting the support they need: “The risk is, of course, as soon as they leave the jail, that they can revert back to their reoffending ways, and that simply creates more victims of crime”.
Whilst at the same time we have one of the highest rates of imprisonment in Western Europe, we also have one of the worst rates of reoffending
Mr Taylor’s comments came a day after the Conservative chairman of the Commons Justice Committee warned that jails are “reaching breaking point”.
Sir Bob Neill told MPs there is a “real issue” with prison officer recruitment, retention and low morale.
He said the jail population “has grown substantially over the last 30 years and, as of last Friday, there are some 85,851 people in prison”.
He added: “Ironically, whilst at the same time we have one of the highest rates of imprisonment in Western Europe, we also have one of the worst rates of reoffending. That dichotomy is something that successive governments have failed to address.”
