Plans for More Women’s Prison Places Put on Hold

Amidst the headlong rush to build enough prison places to keep pace with demand, it’s perhaps surprising to see the UK government pause their plans to expand capacity for one group at least - women prisoners.

The Prison service told MPs yesterday that high levels of inflation over the last year have had a material impact on estimated costs. So they are taking “a responsible approach” by pausing plans to build Gender-Specific and Trauma-Informed (GSTI) accommodation at five sites. They’ve got the planning permission for three of the sites but, it seems, not the money to develop them.

The numbers of women in prisons are expected to rise from 3,649 last week to 4,200 in November 2026 but the letter to the House of Commons Justice Committee makes clear that the government wants fewer women in prison.

Latest statistics show that proportionately more of the women in prison are on remand than are men (15% v 12%) and of those sentenced, 14% are serving terms of 2 years or less compared to 7% of men. So there is hope that the projected rise in the number of women in prison – already 5 percentage points lower than it is for men- won’t come to pass.  Better community sentences and more alternative residential options could help achieve that, along with more constructive sentencing guidelines which are currently being prepared.

Halting prison expansion albeit in a small way looks like a case of doing the right thing for the wrong reason. The letter expresses a commitment to “exploring solutions for the complex challenges within the Criminal Justice System that deliver better outcomes for the taxpayer”. It might have been an idea to start that exploration before embarking on the plans for 20,000 new prison places for men.

The World of Probation

 

The sixth World Congress of Probation and Parole brought more than 400 people from 61 countries to The Hague this week to ponder the future of community corrections. As the self-proclaimed birthplace of probation in 1823, the Netherlands proved not only fitting but wonderfully creative hosts for a celebration of what Clement Okech from Kenya described as the “human face” of criminal justice.

And there is much to celebrate in how probation services around the world are, in Okech’s words “catching the fish and cooking the fish”. Participants heard about positive legal and practice developments from Armenia to Zambia; strong technical assistance provided to low-income countries from governments – not least the Dutch in their former colonies- and from NGOs like Penal Reform International; and a growing movement to expand the role of volunteers in reintegration drawing inspiration from practice in Japan.

But we had the chance to think about some storm clouds on the horizon too.

Staffing shortages and under resourcing are affecting rich and poor countries alike. Surinam reported problems in retaining officers in its developing probation service because of low pay.

Academic experts Ion Durnescu and Faye Taxman estimated that globally more than half of people in corrections are in the community rather than prison yet funds for the former are dwarfed by the latter.

The Congress heard that more than half of people entering US state prisons do so as a result of failing to comply with community supervision requirements -which I was shocked to learn average 17 in number in each individual case.  How much probation pushes people back into prison in England and Wales is the subject of the latest Transform Justice podcast. 

It seems too that the much vaunted swift and certain sanctions model (on which the UK’s intensive supervision courts pilots are in part based) is ineffective. 

There is a clearly a good case for substantial investment in probation capacity – something which has been accepted in Kenya where probation strength has almost quadrupled in 15 years. But it is certainly not typical in Africa, nor elsewhere.

Concerns too about the human face of probation being diluted by growing reliance on technology in the form not only of electronic monitoring as a standalone sanction and the role of Artificial Intelligence in risk assessment. The Dutch prison service is working on “the possibility of reducing staff deployment through robotisation” and probation may not be far behind. Dangers of racial and other forms of discrimination may be recognised but are they being addressed?

Finally, many countries face hardening public and political attitudes on crime, scepticism about social scientific evidence and a need for scapegoats in cases of serious re-offending. Maintaining core probation values can be a challenge in a risk averse climate.

The Congress heard a sneak preview of the forthcoming Handbook on Global Community Corrections which finds that compared to 30 years ago many more services report public protection, involving the victim and community safety among their mission statements.

Finding better ways of communicating a proactive narrative about how probation achieves these objectives, using stories from offenders, victims, and practitioners as well as better data is an urgent priority.

Will the worldwide probation family be able to meet these challenges? I hope to be able to report back from the seventh Congress in 2026.

It’s in Bali by the way.

Race against Time : Another Update on the Prison Building Programme

 

 At last, the Government has made public a comprehensive list of where its new prison places will be.  In a parliamentary answer at the end of last month, Prison Minister Ed Argar gave details of the sites where 14,169 additional places will be delivered over the coming years. Together with the 5,856 places already up and running, the total, if they all come to fruition, will be 20,025.

Actually the list is not complete as the answer refers to additional sites which are “commercially sensitive and information released about these would prejudice the department’s negotiating position and ability to achieve value for money in these developments”. But it’s the fullest picture we’ve had so far.

According to the answer, planning permission is still needed for 3,362 of the places though more than half of these are at the Lancashire site next to Garth and Wymott prisons which Planning Minister Michael Gove is minded to approve. While an inquiry has been reopenedto consider safety issues on surrounding roads, the MoJ will expect to get the go ahead before long.

Less certain must be the 247 place expansion at HMP Gartree in Leicestershire, coming on top as it would do of the 1,715 place new build next door. Permission for the new prison was rejected by the local council but overruled by Gove.

1,080 of the 1280 places in Open prisons on Argar’s list require planning permission as do 320 at privately run HMP Parc in South Wales. So assuming the Garth/Wymott site is approved, the government still need permission for 1,647 places.  

Argar says they are on track to have delivered half of the 20,000 places by the end of 2025. Theres no timetable beyond that which I’ve seen

It’s worth noting that according to information given to the Justice Committee last month, more than 1,000 of the 5,856 places delivered to date have been through refurbishment rather than construction; and a further 400 are classed as urgent and temporary accommodation. 800 of the remaining places will also be achieved through refurbishment.  

There's a link here to a spreadsheet with the data on the proposed new places. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18cXUEqobeERgtuJnVcQYQffezfJsRwoY/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112692352651739743663&rtpof=true&sd=true

Building New Prisons and Making Existing Ones Safe

 

Just before Easter, Prisons Minister Ed Argar gave the Justice committee an update on the prison building programme.  He reported that of 20,000 planned new places, 5,856 are in use. Well over half are in the two new prisons Five Wells and Fosse Way, the remainder at 37 existing locations mostly achieved through refurbishment, emergency temporary accommodation and rapid deployment cells with 204 empty cells brought into use in three private jails.  

Argar assured MPs that the MoJ is on track to have a total of 10,000 places available at the end of 2025, thanks to a third new prison (HMP Millsike), new houseblocks at two current sites and “hundreds more rapid deployment cells”.

That leaves 10,000 more places to create.  Half are intended to be in three further new prisons. Outline planning permission has been obtained for two with a planning inquiry into the third re-opening last week. Road safety is a sticking point   with the hearing due to conclude, after a break, at the end of this month.

The final 5,000 places will be built “through a range of projects” including a new houseblock at Fosse Way and an expansion of open prisons. Argar’s boss Alex Chalk has promised Parliament an annual statement on prison capacity so there may be a chance for MPs to interrogate the plans if and when that happens before the election.

In the meantime, Argar reassured the Justice Committee that as far as the current prison estate is concerned, the surge in demand for space has not resulted in any essential works necessary to address critical risks to life being paused. In particular work to bring 23,500 prison places into line with modern fire safety standards remains on course to be completed by the end of 2027.   HMPPS has previously reported that capacity pressures have restricted their ability to take places out of use for refurbishment and compliance works, so Argar’s statement is welcome.

Additional fire safety issues in specific prisons have recently become known. The latest entries in the register published by the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate show enforcement notices were issued at Eastwood Park and Holme House at the end of last year along with an alterations notice at Swaleside which means that there are or could be high safety risks in the Kent prison. This is of particular concern given a prisoner died there from smoke inhalation in 2019.   

The register shows a notice issued in 2022 has not yet been complied with at Chelmsford and two made in 2021 are still in force at privately run Oakwood and Northumberland. 

There is certainly no cause for complacency.