MPS lambast ‘staggering failure’ over prison places

Commons committee criticises Government for creating just 206 of the 10,000 target it set in 2016

ONLY 206 out of 10,000 new prison places promised by the Ministry of Justice by the end of 2020 have been delivered, say MPS, who described it as a “staggering failure” of management.

The Public Accounts Committee blamed the failure on delays in new building plans and the inability to tackle a chronic backlog of repairs in prisons, many of which were built in the Victorian age.

It warned this meant prisoners were being held in unsafe and crowded conditions, with prison inspectors listing unclean accommodation, broken cell windows and leaking lavatories among the issues which riddle the country’s prisons. “Rather than delivering even a fraction of the promised places, [the prison service] has allowed a staggering backlog of maintenance work to build up that will cost more than £900million to address,” said the MPS.

They said the backlog meant 500 prison places were being taken permanently out of action each year.

“Prison conditions and facilities play a crucial role in supporting prisoners to stay away from crime on their release and reduce the £18.1billion cost to the economy of reoffending each year,” added the MPS. “Despite the PAC’S recommendations in May 2019, there is still no sign of a cross-government strategy for reducing reoffending.”

The 10,000 new prison places were promised in 2016 by the then Chancellor, George Osborne, but with just over three months until his deadline, only 206 places have been delivered.

“The Ministry has once again exposed taxpayers to higher than expected costs as a result of inadequate planning, unrealistic assumptions and poor performance,” said the MPS.

Last August Boris Johnson pledged £2.5 billion for the MOJ to create 10,000 extra prison places. Sajid Javid, then Chancellor, admitted the “penal system was woefully ill-equipped to rehabilitate and reform.”

Meg Hillier, chair of the PAC, said: “The scale of failure, in our prisons and in the disastrous probation reforms, is staggering. The Ministry is still reeling from the long-term consequences of its unrealistic 2015 Spending Review settlement, but our whole society is bearing the financial and human cost of sustained underinvestment.”

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “The solution requires an end to overcrowding and the closure of many prisons no longer fit for purpose.

“Only a radical change in the political obsession with imprisoning people can deliver that overdue reform.”