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The last Conservative Government’s prison building programme, which they promised would provide an additional 20,000 new places by next year, as part of “the biggest shake up of prisons since Victorian times” has been blasted by incoming Labour ministers after a new report found it had resulted in just 1,000 extra places being built, requiring billions of pounds more to fulfil.
The report, by the National Audit Office, exposes the sheer scale of the crisis inherited by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who faced intense criticism from Conservative-supporting newspapers last month after being forced to release thousands of prisoners early.
Pointing to the current crisis, the report suggests that it is “the result of previous governments’ failure to ensure that the number of prison places was aligned with criminal justice policies”.
The report reveals that the pledge for tens of thousands of new prison places, in David Cameron’s 2016 Queen’s Speech, will now not be met until at least 2031, and will cost a minimum of an extra £4.2 billion to fulfil. This amounts to an 80% increase in cost, compared to when it was first announced by the then Justice Secretary Michael Gove.
So far construction firms have built a total of 6,518 new places but this has been offset by the closure of another 5,513 cells which were housed in buildings which were too dilapidated for further use.
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The failure to build sufficient new prison capacity led to Keir Starmer to release 3,100 prisoners early in September. Longer sentences passed by judges and the recruitment of 20,000 police officers by the last government have also led to more arrests and more pressure on prisons, the report found.
The NAO suggest the government could face an even worse crisis in 2027 when it is predicted that there will be a shortage of 12,400 places – four times the number stated earlier this autumn.
The prison building programme has also been hit by the collapse of the country’s sixth biggest construction company, the ISG Group, which was planned to provide 3,634 new places or 17% of the programme.
Byline Times reported the firm’s collapse at the end of September. At the time the Ministry of Justice minimised the impact. However, it has now told the NAO that the delays could be between three and 18 months for different projects, includinge the postponed opening of a big new prison for 1,500 people in Buckinghamshire, refurbishment of a prison in Liverpool and a new prison at Gartree where work had already begun.
The report also discloses huge difficulties facing attempts to tackle maintenance and improvements in prisons. Costs have doubled from £900,000 to £1.8 million, and 23,000 cells- a quarter of all places – do not meet modern fire safety requirements.
Charlie Taylor, HM Inspector of Prisons, has produced a string of reports on deteriorating conditions in prisons, including recently, Rochester, Winchester, Bedford and Manchester. These include rising violence, drug use, damage to equipment including one prisoner removing his cell door, and lack of good rehabilitation.
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The report is also highly critical of the lack of co-ordination across Whitehall by the last government to implement the programme.
It states that “unrealistic timelines, insufficient risk management and a lack of prioritisation by wider government led to delays and cost increases. Weaknesses in governance and pressure to deliver places quickly allowed overambitious timelines and unachievable budgets to be set for many programmes.”
Responding to the report, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Conservative Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts said:
“Prisons are already at the brink and demand for spaces is set to outstrip capacity.
“HM Prison and Probation Service’s prison expansion plan has been beset with delays and costs are expected to overrun by at least £4 billion.
“The report makes clear that the government’s plans will not meet future demand, which is clearly unacceptable.
“The Ministry of Justice has been in firefighting mode, prioritising short-term solutions to the crisis. These are not only expensive, but also increase risks to prisoner, staff and public safety.
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“The Government must pull together a coherent and viable long-term plan for a prison estate that meets demand and delivers value for taxpayers’ money”.
Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, Lord James Timpson said:
“This report lays bare the litany of failures which brought our prison system to the brink. This not only risked public safety but added billions in extra costs to taxpayers.
“We have already taken immediate action to address the crowding chaos engulfing our jails, and will now focus on improving conditions in the long-term. This includes shortly publishing a 10-year prison capacity strategy to put our jails on a sustainable footing.”
However, the Green Party said the report highlighted the “futility” of putting more and more people in prison.
“The National Audit Office has revealed in stark terms the futility of a society trying to imprison away crime,” Green Party MP Siân Berry said.
“However fast the Government builds prisons, at the current rates of offending and reoffending, the respite from the current crisis of overcrowding will only last a handful of years.
“The Government must face this reality and build not more prisons but a planned programme of prevention and more effective alternatives to incarceration, particularly for women, young people and offenders whose crimes are driven by poverty and destitution.”