Prison population hits record high in week before early release scheme starts

The prison population has reached a new record high as ministers are reported to be considering renting jail cells in Estonia to ease overcrowding.

Official figures showed there were 88,521 people behind bars on Friday, 171 more than the previous record set at the end of last week.

The prison population has risen by 1,025 people over the past four weeks and now stands at its highest level since weekly population data was first published in 2011, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

The sharp rise is likely to have been driven by the number of people remanded in custody or given jail sentences following the recent disorder across parts of the country.

In July, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to cut the proportion of sentences inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40% as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said overcrowding had pushed jails to the “point of collapse”.

The policy will not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The new Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with prisons on the point of collapse.

“It has been forced to introduce an early release programme to stop a crisis that would have overwhelmed the criminal justice system, meaning we would no longer be able to lock up dangerous criminals and protect the public.”

The Government is also reported to be investigating the possibility of sending some inmates to prisons in Estonia to increase capacity in the short term.

According to reports in The Daily Telegraph, Ms Mahmood is expected to meet her Estonian counterpart Liisa Pakosta next week to discuss the leasing of cells.

Speaking to broadcasters on Friday, Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle did not deny the reports, but said it was not part of her own ministerial responsibilities.

She said: “The last government closed loads of prison places and didn’t replace any of them, so I think that colleagues in the MoJ will be considering anything that they can to alleviate the problem.

“What we cannot have is people who are convicted of perhaps violent or serious crimes not being able to be in jail.”

A Number 10 spokeswoman said renting prison cells in Estonia had been the policy of the previous government and current ministers had made “no such plans or announcement with regard to Estonia”.

She added: “More broadly, we would always look at options that are practical and deliver value for money for the taxpayer.”

At last year’s Conservative Party conference, then-justice secretary Alex Chalk said he was in discussions with other European countries about the possibility of renting prison cells for British offenders as a way to ease overcrowding.

Estonia was understood at the time to be one of those countries, while Ms Mahmood – then shadow justice secretary – said the proposal was a “symbol of the way in which the Tories have run our criminal justice system into the ground”.

Speaking after the latest figures were released, Sir Keir Starmer said he had been “shocked by what we’ve found in the prison system”, adding that he had “inherited a situation where the last government didn’t build the prisons we need”.

In an interview with the BBC, the Prime Minister added: “It was very difficult during the disorder. I won’t hide from that. Every day we were having to look at how many prison places that we had in order to arrest people who needed to be arrested.

“No Prime Minister should be in the position of having to concern him or herself with ‘Are there enough prison places?’, so we’re doing what’s necessary. We’ll turn it around.”