The Government's commitment to creating 20,000 new prison places by the mid-2020s is "significantly behind schedule", the Prison Reform Trust has said. By June 5 this year, 5,202 new places had been created - including Britain's newest prison HMP Fosse Way in Leicester - according to a new report published by the trust.
Figures released by the Ministry of Justice last month revealed more than 85,000 inmates are now locked up in England and Wales, and the number is projected to reach 93,200 by 2024. The Government faces an "immediate crisis" in prison capacity, Mark Day, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust said, as he called for new ways to reduce demand on the system.
Mark Day, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "England and Wales has the highest imprisonment rate in Western Europe of 141 per 100,000 head of population. The prison population has risen by 80% in the last 30 years.
