Prisoners will be held in police cells for the first time in 14 years with jails running out of space, the Government admitted today.
Justice Minister Damian Hinds told MPs he had triggered Operation Safeguard after an "acute and sudden increase in the prison population" meant 400 police cells were needed.
He blamed a surge in court cases after a barristers’ strike during the summer for fuelling the numbers of offenders sent to prison.
"With court hearings resuming we are seeing a surge in offenders coming through the criminal justice system, placing capacity pressure on adult male prisons in particular,” he told the Commons.
"The triggering of Operation Safeguard is not an unprecedented move.
“This is an established procedure, used before, to ensure our prison system can operate effectively and safely during periods of high demand. It last happened in 2006, and then in 2007 and 2008."
He warned that “at no point in the last five years have we had fewer than a thousand cells available across the entire prison estate”.
Labour accused the Tories of slashing prison places over the last decade.
Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed said: “This Conservative Government has left murderers and rapists to roam our streets because they cut the number of cells that they should be locked up in.
“Despite reports of rape and sexual offences hitting record highs, the Conservatives cut more than 10,000 prison places since 2010.”
The Prison Governors’ Association said: “Previous Governments have used public sector prisons as a cash cow for savings - either through savage and deep budget cuts or through the sustained lack of capital investment in the prison estate.
“We are seeing the consequences of these political decisions now with the announcement that the formal use of police cells will be used to extend the capacity of the prison estate.
“The use of police cells under these conditions is an exceptional measure and, in our view, should be reserved for unforeseen circumstances where no other options exist.
“We do not believe the circumstances that sees this announcement are unforeseen and we believe there are other options open to government.”
