Prisoners to be held in police cells to deal with overcrowding

Prisoners will be temporarily held in police cells to deal with prisons running out of space, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed.

The emergency measures, called Operation Safeguard, are triggered when prisons are close to capacity.

The government says 200 police cells will be freed up by the measures, which are expected to last for two months but could be extended depending on the size of the prison population.

The announcement comes shortly before a new prison near York is scheduled to open. HMP Millsike will create 1,500 new spaces that the government hopes will reduce pressure on the criminal justice system.

While the system is close to full capacity, the MoJ said there is still space.

Figures released on Monday show the number of prisoners is at a six-month high, with 87,556 people currently in custody.

The male prison estate is currently operating at more than 99% occupancy, the MoJ said.

This is not the first time Operation Safeguard has been triggered and has been introduced during periods of high demand for prison space - including in May 2024 and February 2023.

In a statement, the MoJ said it had "inherited a prison system in crisis".

A spokesperson said the measures offered "temporary relief" while the government worked to build a further 14,000 new prison places and reform sentencing.

Last year, the government released more than 2000 prisoners early as part of an emergency plan to ease overcrowding in the system.

Offenders serving sentences of more than five years were released on license after spending more than 40% of their time behind bars.

Prisoners convicted of serious violence, sex crimes and terrorism were excluded from the scheme.

Many of those released early came from open prisons, meaning they had been working toward rehabilitation.

The government has outlined a plan to deliver 14,000 more prison places in England and Wales by 2031, which included building new prisons, adding new blocks to existing prisons, and opening temporary cells.

David Gauke, former Conservative justice secretary, was asked to lead a sentencing review in autumn last year. The expert panel was tasked with re-evaluating the country's sentencing framework.

Proposals being considered by the panel include the scrapping of short prison sentences and measures to toughen up community orders as an alternative to jail.

The panel is expected to publish its findings by spring 2025.

The Prison Reform Trust said the wellbeing and safety of prisoners and prison staff, as well as the criminal justice system's functionality, has been compromised by the "capacity crisis".

Pia Sinha, chief executive of the charity, said: "It will not be possible for the government to build its way out of this crisis."

The sentencing review "will be vital to bringing our use of imprisonment down to a sustainable level", she added.