UK to explore putting prisoners in foreign jails

• New legislation will allow for the movement of prisoners to jails in other countries
• Measures will ensure we can continue locking up the most dangerous criminals for longer
• Plans follow in the footsteps of other European nations including Norway and Belgium

New powers will be introduced when parliamentary time permits to allow the UK to rent prison space from foreign countries.

This Conservative government is committed to protecting the public by taking the most dangerous offenders off our streets for longer, by clamping down on crime, toughening sentences for the worst offenders, and increasing their time behind bars. The average custodial sentence has increased by 57 per cent since 2010.

The measure will put public protection first and help provide additional capacity for our prison service in a safe and sustainable way. 

While progress is made on the biggest prison build programme since the Victorian era by building 20,000 new prison places, the British public rightly expects all necessary measures to be taken to ensure that dangerous criminals continue to see the inside of a prison cell.

New legislation will allow the government to work with international partners on mutually beneficial agreements to house prisoners offshore. Exploratory discussions with possible partners in Europe have already taken place and are ongoing. 

Agreements would mean that prisoners in the UK could be moved to another country’s prison estate provided the facilities, regime and rehabilitation provided meets British standards. 

This is an established approach which has been used by other European countries including Belgium and Norway who have moved prisoners to the Netherlands.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk MP said: 

“This government is doing more than any since the Victorian era to expand prison capacity. 

“Alongside our extra 20,000 prison places programme, refurbishment of old prisons and rapid deployment cells, renting prison places in other countries will ensure that we always have the space to keep the public safe from the most dangerous offenders.”

Prisons Minister Damian Hinds said:

“Public protection is our top priority which is why we are rightly locking up the most dangerous offenders for longer. To do that, we must continue to ensure we have sufficient prison places.

“Renting space in foreign prisons is an established practice in other nations, and proves that only the Conservatives are committed to taking the tough action to make our streets safer.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors: 

• So far, c.5,500 additional places have been completed. This includes our two new c.1,700 place prisons, HMP Five Wells, which opened last year, and HMP Fosse Way, which accepted its first prisoners at the end of May. It also includes, among others, c.250 Rapid Deployment Cells now in place at HMPs Norwich, Wymott and Hollesley Bay, c.350 places brought online by re-roleing HMP Morton Hall, and a workshop at HMP High Down to support 90 new places which was delivered ahead of schedule in March 2023.
• Based on our current forecasts, by May 2025, we expect that we will have delivered a total of over 8,000 places. This will include refurbishments at HMP Birmingham and HMP Norwich, and new houseblocks at HMP Stocken and HMP Hatfield. We will also be pushing forward with additional Rapid Deployment Cells across the estate and the wing-by-wing refurbishment at HMP Liverpool.
• We have also put in place short-term measures across the prison estate to expand capacity in the estate by an extra 2,400 places since September 2022 while ensuring our prisons remain safe for staff and offenders. This has been achieved through measures including greater use of double occupancy of cells where it is safe to do so and delaying non-urgent maintenance work.
• Norway rented prison cells from the Netherlands under the “Norgerhaven” agreement. Approximately 650 prisoners convicted in Norway were sent to Norgerhaven Prison in the Netherlands to serve their sentence between 2015-2018.
• Under the “Nova Belgica” / “Tilburg” agreement, from 2010-2016, approx. 500-650 prisoners convicted in Belgium, including foreign national offenders, were transferred to the Netherlands to serve their sentences.