The government has announced a new £2.3 billon plan to increase prison capacity to 14,000 by 2031 as part of a 10-year Prison Capacity Strategy. You can read the full announcement here.
Responding to the announcement Campbell Robb, CEO of Nacro said:
“The Lord Chancellor is right that we can’t only build our way out of this crisis. This is a once in a generation opportunity for real change as we must never again find ourselves with prisons bursting at the seams with no more space, and unable to deliver meaningful rehabilitation.
The current sentencing review is essential to this. England and Wales has one of the highest prison populations in Western Europe and the prison population has doubled in the last 30 years and is set to increase much further. Ultimately, this has to include action to reduce the number of people in prison to a more manageable level and follow the evidence of what works to reduce reoffending.
Any focus on capacity must also include the capacity to deliver effective rehabilitative support, including education and training in prisons. Currently too many people in prison miss out on critical support which could help reduce their risk of reoffending. Regardless of how many people are in prison, it is essential that we do everything we can to reduce their risk of offending and increase their chances of a second chance.”
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We operate in more than 40 prisons and provide services across England and Wales. We help 28,000 people across our services each year and run the CAS-2 service for the Government housing people coming out of prison on bail or licence. We work with people at every stage of the criminal justice system, from liaison and diversion services in police custody and courts, to resettlement into the community after prison. We use the insights from our services and the experiences of the people we support to campaign together for a criminal justice system which better serves us all. We’ve been working in this field for more than 50 years.