Steve Reed comments on the MoJ announcing Operation Safeguard amid shortage of prison places

Steve Reed MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responding to the Ministry of Justice announcing it has operated Operation Safeguard due to running out of prison places, said:

“This Conservative Government has left murderers and rapists to roam our streets because they cut the number of cells that they should be locked up in. 

“Despite reports of rape and sexual offences hitting record highs, the Conservatives cut more than 10,000 prison places since 2010, while the Justice Secretary is more interested in the fight to save his job than the fight against crime. 

“Our country needs a government that is serious about protecting victims of crime. Labour will get more police on the streets, a bigger say for victims, and a justice system that doesn't see criminals run loose.” 

Ends

Notes:  

Data:
 

• Police stations across the UK have been shutting their doors at a rate of more than one per week since 2010 -
  https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/police-stations-closing-one-per-week-lbc-reveals/  

• The latest prison population statistic release has been delayed until next year -
  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/prison-population-projections-2022-to-2027
  
  
• Prison places taken permanently out of use since 2010: 10,640  -
  https://members.parliament.uk/member/4268/writtenquestions#expand-1536728
  
  
• Current prison population as of 25 Nov: 82,839, compared to 79,685 in 2021 -
  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures-2022
  
  
• 55.1% increase in Band 3 to 5 prison officers who left HM Prison and Probation Service in the year ending 30 June 2022 -
  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/her-majestys-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-june-2022/her-majestys-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-june-2022#:~:text=The%20headcount%20of%20band%203,actually%20lower%20than%20previous%20quarters
  
  
• 207% increase in probation services officers left in 2022 compared to the year ending 30 June 2021 -
  https://www.russellwebster.com/prison-and-probation-officers-leaving-in-droves/#:~:text=In%20the%20past%20year%2C%20835,year%20ending%2031%20March%202022
  
  
• Police-recorded rape and sexual offences hit a record high in the year to June 2022 –https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/crime-outcomes-in-england-and-wales-year-to-june-2022-data-tables

• The overall charge rate for crime stands at a record low of just 5.4%, with hundreds of thousands fewer crimes solved every year – https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingjune2022

About Operation Safeguard:

Operation Safeguard is a contingency plan to deal with prison overcrowding in the United Kingdom; it involves using cells at police stations as accommodation for prisoners when the number of cells in prisons becomes critically low. It operates under the Imprisonment (Temporary Provisions) Act 1980 which allows prisoners remanded or sentenced to prison by the courts to be held in police cells for one night, except over weekends or bank holidays when the period could be longer.