Hull Prison by Paul Harrop, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Why are UK Prisons Facing Overcrowding?
Due to a spring of UK riots, there has been a surge in prison sentences leading to a strain on the continued issue of prison overcrowding. Given this problem, one feels inclined to delve deeper. This also leads to many of us questioning, what is being done to solve prison overcrowding?
It has already been commented upon within an article by Howard League that within England and Wales, the worst prison to fall victim to this issue was Durham, in which it was having to house 973 inmates while sitting with a CNA of 573. It is reported that prisoners are becoming crammed into cells designed to accommodate only one person, while two or three people are being housed in them. That is not all however; this article has also made it clear that the conditions in which prisoners are forced to live in are inadequate, as repairs are not being carried out before placing prisoners.
It has also not helped that there have been recent demands to lengthen sentences for the more severe crimes, leading to longer prison stays and so, a rise in the population. This has been commented on in The Conversation, where during the King’s speech, it was expressed the worries that this would have on the current problem of overcrowding. What this article articulates is the need to reserve longer prison sentences for those serving more serious crimes, while petty criminals should be sentenced by giving back to the community. Thus, rather than throwing all criminals into prison, the need to allocate those most deserving into the prison system becomes increasingly necessary if the UK hopes to ease the overcrowding problem and offer rehabilitation.
Although it has been mentioned that there is a need to offer alternative sentences to prison stays, Labour has failed to follow this belief. Due to the recent admission of rioters into prison, Labour has taken emergency measures through Operation Early Dawn, meaning that defendants awaiting a court date can he held in police holding cells for longer. This information can be found on YouTube’s Daily Mail.
Still, it makes one wonder what is to be done regarding violent offenders who have committed severe crimes, given how full prisons are becoming. On Gov.uk, We learn that such criminals are to be housed in foreign countries to ensure that ‘dangerous offenders,’ as Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has put it, can be held without the need to shorten sentences.
However, looking at the stream of riots within the UK which has been prompting arrests and new arrivals into the prison system, does the sentencing of rioters into prisons threaten to undo the previous attempts to ease the overcrowding issue?
It has been commented upon by BBC News that in relation to the riots, two women aged 24 and 52, as well as a man aged 47 had been charged for violent disorder, thus being sent to prison. As the prisons are filling up, the UK is seeing that the sentences of inmates are having to be cut from 50% down to 40% of their sentence.
In an article by The Guardian, the warning that Ministers are merely placing a ‘sticking plaster’ upon a deteriorating criminal justice system has been suggested, as overcrowding is not a recent problem. Starmer in a recent discussion on Operation Early Dawn stated that it is due to the Conservative party’s failure to ensure adequate housing for prisoners that the overcrowding issue has grown.
The rising fear in the police’s ability to perform their work as usual is also notable, given that inmates are to be held and thus, taking up the space and time of officers. Could it then be that this solution implemented by the UK government could cause further problems within an increasingly chaotic system? As victims are left awaiting justice, and the sentencing of inmates is delayed, the worry then arises that the problem will indeed worsen as workload slows and more inmates must be held at a rising capacity.
Aside from the problems facing inmates, looking to those working within prisons, it is shocking to find that as well as an overcrowding problem, prisons are dealing with understaffing. Within another article by Howard League, it has been pointed out that due to the lack of workers, combined with overcrowding and a dwindling number of available cells, staff become overworked. Coupled with being overworked, understaffing leads to inmates losing out on worthwhile activities, such as library time being cancelled due to not enough workers being available to keep watch.
An article by Independent has further highlighted the need for a change in the overcrowding and understaffing issue, referring to the current state of the prison system as a ‘time bomb’, with many feeling in danger within their place of work. A recent survey has also revealed that 85% of officers are working in jails without enough members of staff. The worry arises that given the lack of manpower to properly control inmates, the power dynamic may shift as a fear of an inmate uprising grows.
Just recently, an article on inews has highlighted the fear of prison riots, arguing that if there is a lack of cells then there would not be enough rooms to detain the prisoners leading these revolts. The decision has been made to enforce a ‘one in, one out’ system for the safety of staff. This system has been dubbed Operation Brinker.
There have also been threats by prison workers to take legal action against the government, so as to ensure the ‘health and safety’ of workers. Notably, it is not the first time emergency measures to release inmates early has had to be taken, as back in 2007 during Labour’s power, similar capacity problems were occurring. What else is troubling is that due to the failure to offer rehabilitation to prisoners, those being released early are being sentenced back inside, with statistics showcasing the numbers are between 30-50%.
This ultimately proves to be a tumultuous period for the UK government, due to the worsening of an overpopulation problem within prisons not helped by the recent riots causing a rise in sentences. With a further issue residing within understaffing, the worry of officer wellbeing becomes increasingly important for consideration. As more inmates pile into an already maxed out prison system, one wonders how much longer prison staff can handle such working conditions.