Wayne
08-07-2009, 06:47 PM
The prison population hit a record high yesterday - passing the 84,000 mark for the first time.
There are now 84,150 inmates in jails in England and Wales - up 3,000 in two years - despite around 2,500 convicts a month being released early.
Ministers have pledged to increase prison capacity to 96,000 by 2014. The jails are still 1,000 places below their maximum capacity of 85,137.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/08/07/article-1205053-05FDBAFC000005DC-153_468x286.jpg
On top of that in case of emergency there are 2,000 additional prison places and 400 police and court cells.
Since 1995, the number of prisoners has soared by around two thirds from around 50,000. The increases have been caused by longer sentences, changes to the sentencing regime and more released convicts being recalled from licence.
Since June 2007, more than 62,500 prisoners have been let out up to 18 days before the halfway point of their sentence. Among them are burglars, robbers and drug dealers.
More serious criminals are excluded from the End of Custody Licence scheme, which aims to reduce chronic overcrowding.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'We will always provide enough prison places for serious offenders.
'However, prison is not always the right answer for less serious offenders. In some cases a tough community sentence can be more effective than a short prison sentence.
'That's why, in March 2008, we announced £40million to further support the Probation Service so that magistrates have tough community sentences at their disposal.
'Since 1997, the Government has increased prison capacity by over 24,000 places.
The Government increased capacity by over 3,300 places last year, aim to increase it by a further 1,750 this year and are committed to increase net capacity to 96,000 by 2014.'
Prison reformers have accused ministers of wasting billions on a 'vacuous' jail-building programme.
The money would be better spent on schemes aimed at cutting crime in the first place, they said.
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: 'This is the latest measure of the mess our prisons are in.
'The prison population has now increased by almost 25,000 people since 1997.
'It is difficult to see how Government can continue to waste billions building more prisons while ignoring the reasons why numbers have shot up.
'Given the pressure on public spending, ministers must break their addiction to imprisonment and make better use of cost-effective ways to tackle the causes of crime.
'Investing in preventative work with children in trouble and diverting vulnerable women, drug addicts and binge-drinkers, the mentally ill and people with learning disabilities into the care or treatment they need would cut crime and improve public health at a fraction of the cost of vacuous prison-building.'
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1205053/Record-numbers-inmates-prisons.html)
There are now 84,150 inmates in jails in England and Wales - up 3,000 in two years - despite around 2,500 convicts a month being released early.
Ministers have pledged to increase prison capacity to 96,000 by 2014. The jails are still 1,000 places below their maximum capacity of 85,137.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/08/07/article-1205053-05FDBAFC000005DC-153_468x286.jpg
On top of that in case of emergency there are 2,000 additional prison places and 400 police and court cells.
Since 1995, the number of prisoners has soared by around two thirds from around 50,000. The increases have been caused by longer sentences, changes to the sentencing regime and more released convicts being recalled from licence.
Since June 2007, more than 62,500 prisoners have been let out up to 18 days before the halfway point of their sentence. Among them are burglars, robbers and drug dealers.
More serious criminals are excluded from the End of Custody Licence scheme, which aims to reduce chronic overcrowding.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'We will always provide enough prison places for serious offenders.
'However, prison is not always the right answer for less serious offenders. In some cases a tough community sentence can be more effective than a short prison sentence.
'That's why, in March 2008, we announced £40million to further support the Probation Service so that magistrates have tough community sentences at their disposal.
'Since 1997, the Government has increased prison capacity by over 24,000 places.
The Government increased capacity by over 3,300 places last year, aim to increase it by a further 1,750 this year and are committed to increase net capacity to 96,000 by 2014.'
Prison reformers have accused ministers of wasting billions on a 'vacuous' jail-building programme.
The money would be better spent on schemes aimed at cutting crime in the first place, they said.
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: 'This is the latest measure of the mess our prisons are in.
'The prison population has now increased by almost 25,000 people since 1997.
'It is difficult to see how Government can continue to waste billions building more prisons while ignoring the reasons why numbers have shot up.
'Given the pressure on public spending, ministers must break their addiction to imprisonment and make better use of cost-effective ways to tackle the causes of crime.
'Investing in preventative work with children in trouble and diverting vulnerable women, drug addicts and binge-drinkers, the mentally ill and people with learning disabilities into the care or treatment they need would cut crime and improve public health at a fraction of the cost of vacuous prison-building.'
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1205053/Record-numbers-inmates-prisons.html)