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The Government will speed up the building of hundreds of extra prison places with £110 million of investment, the Justice Secretary is to announce.
Alex Norris will set out plans to speed up the building of new prison places as part of the Government’s efforts to tackle overcrowding in the prisons estate.
Mr Norris is expected to announce the plans on Tuesday, when he will set out to MPs details of an early release scheme designed to deal with the situation.
Alongside the cash, which has been fast-tracked from existing budgets, the Government is also converting unused spaces inside prisons into new cells as part of the plans.
Justice Secretary Mr Norris said: “This Government is serious about fixing the broken prison system we inherited, which is why we’ve already delivered more than 3,200 prison places in just two years.
“We’re now investing to boost these efforts further – getting spades in the ground quicker to deliver thousands more places to lock up dangerous criminals and keep the public safe.”
Elsewhere, ministers have signed a contract which will pave the way for a new 1,700-place prison in Lancashire.
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that the killers of Thames Valley police officer Andrew Harper will not be eligible for early release, following a backlash.
Mr Burnham initially resisted calls to limit the scheme further after it emerged that Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, who were convicted of Pc Harper’s manslaughter in 2020, would be eligible from next year.
Some offenders serving indefinite jail sentences, which were abolished in 2012, will also be freed through legislation to be brought forward by the end of this Parliament, the Prime Minister pledged.
Some 5,000 prisoners had been due to be released early from October under plans to ease jail overcrowding, down from 6,000 after ministers intervened to exempt rapists and “serious” child sex offenders.
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