Laundry rooms, unused office space and storage areas in prisons will be converted into cells as part of the government’s latest answer to stop the country running out of prison places.
Lord chancellor Alex Norris has been doing the media rounds this morning after announcing last night that £110m will be 'fast tracked from existing budgets' to increase prison capacity. The need for more spaces has become more acute following the government’s decision over the summer to reduce the number of prisoners who will be released under the early release scheme commencing in October.
Last night’s announcement stated that existing space within prisons, such as unused office space, laundry rooms and storage areas, will be converted into cells. The government has also signed a new contract paving the way for the first phase of works to begin on a new prison in Lancashire that will house 1,700 inmates.
‘This government is serious about fixing the broken prison system we inherited, which is why we’ve already delivered more than 3,200 prison places in just two years,' Norris declared in the announcement. 'We’re now investing to boost these efforts further – getting spades in the ground quicker to deliver thousands more places to lock up dangerous criminals and keep the public safe.’
Norris will update parliament today on changes to sentencing reforms that will block certain offenders from early release. The government intends to remove foreign national offenders quicker and end ‘the historic injustice’ of imprisonment for public protection sentences.
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