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Jun 32 min read

Crisis in our prisons: the facts

Whichever party wins the 2024 General Election will have to deal with the crisis in our prisons as a matter of urgency. These are the facts behind that crisis.


Our prisons are full

 

  • We have the highest per capita prison population in Western Europe[1]

  • Over 60% of prisons are overcrowded

  • The government is releasing prisoners 70 days early and police forces have been asked to make fewer arrests [2]


The combination of longer sentences, rising remand population and rising recalls mean that the whole system is grinding to a halt


  • 1 in 6 of people in prison are on remand, a rise of 45% in just three years. The average wait for a crown court trial is over a year[3]

  • 1 in 6 of the sentenced population have been recalled to prison (2022-23) for breaching their licence conditions, 34% more than the previous year


Prison is expensive and it doesn’t stop people reoffending

 

  • Average annual cost of a prison place is £47k, about the same as a year's fees at Eton

  • Almost 40% of those released from prison are convicted again within a year.

  • Reoffending costs £18 billion per year[4] according to a 2019 government study This represents 30% of the total cost of crime[5] 


Leaving prison with a stable home, a job and a support network minimises people’s chances of reoffending. Our prisons are a wasted opportunity

 

  • Only one out of 37 men’s prisons received a positive rating from inspectors for ‘purposeful activity’ (work, training or education)

  • Only 14% of prisoners are working while in prison[6]

  • 42% of male prisoners are in their cells for 22 or more hours a day during the week- this rises to 58% in local prisons like Wandsworth.

  • Weekends are even worse - 60% of men are locked up for at least 22 hours a day

  • Less than half of those released from prison have settled accommodation on release

  • Only one quarter of people are in employment six months after release

 

Who is in prison?


  • More than two thirds of people in prison reported having mental health problems. 42% had been diagnosed previously with a mental illness

  • Adult prisoners are 12 times more likely to have been taken into care as a child than the general population and 42 times more likely to have been excluded from school


Does the public really want so many people banged up?

 

  • Fewer than 1 in 10 people surveyed said that having more people in prison was the most effective way to deal with crime


Building more prisons is not the answer

 

  • The Ministry of Justice predicts the prison population could increase by 30% over the next four years.[7]

  • Even if all the planned projects are delivered on time there will still be a shortfall. 

 

 

 

Unless stated otherwise below, statistics are taken from the Bromley Briefings, February 2024, published by the Prison Reform Trust


[2] The Times 21 May 2024

[6] 2019-2020 figure - 12,500 average working / c.89,000 prisoners currently (MoJ doesn’t publish more recent data)

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