Labour has highlighted the Conservatives' ‘gross negligence' on
jails today, as the government launches a ten-year prison
capacity strategy to avoid another crisis and restore confidence
in the justice system.
Over 14 years, the last Tory government let our jails crumble and
failed to deliver on their promises:
- Four consecutive Conservative
manifestos promised more prison places – with a vow to add 20,000
extra spaces by the mid-2020s. This timeline was later delayed by
half a decade.
- The Tories' refusal to take the
action needed meant they added just 482 additional places during
their time in power, equivalent to 34 per year during their time
in office.
- This meant when Labour took office
in July 2024, the prison estate was on the verge of collapse.
Capacity was at 99 per cent and during the riots there were fewer
than 100 spare cells across the whole of England and Wales.
- Labour has already delivered as
many prison places in five months, as the Tories did in 14 years
– with a boost of 475 places created.
- The Tory government – which
was a Cabinet minister in
– then granted early release to more than 10,000 prisoners,
including domestic abusers and those posing a risk to children,
without the appropriate safeguards in place. Labour reversed
this scheme upon coming to office, to implement a new scheme
with important safeguards and exemptions to keep the public
safe and clear release plans to manage offenders safely in the
community.
- In October, former Tory leader and
party grandee Lord spoke out on the previous
government's inability to grip the crisis they made. He told
Times Radio:
“They [Labour] have a really good point, actually, that the
Conservative government failed to grasp either, they either had
to build more prison places or they had to let people out and
they didn't want to face up to either over a long period.
That's a real failure”.
This Labour government took action to prevent an impending
collapse of the criminal justice system. As part of the
government's Plan for Change, some 14,000 prison places will be
built with an aim to deliver by 2031, as part of a ten-year
strategy to prevent the country running out of prison space again
and keep the public safe.
A Labour Party spokesperson said:
“The Tories' gross negligence of our prisons is unforgivable.
Without action from this Labour government, criminals could do
whatever they want, without consequence. This government is
delivering on our Plan for Change with investment and reform to
create safer and rebuild Britain.”
Ends
Notes:
A timeline of failure:
- 2015: The 2015 Conservative
manifesto noted that
‘There are around 3,000 more adult prison places today than in
2010. We will make further savings by closing old, inefficient
prisons, building larger, modern and fit-for-purpose ones'.
- 2017: The 2017 Tory manifesto pledged to
‘invest over £1 billion to modernise the prison estate,
replacing the most dilapidated prisons and creating 10,000
modern prison places'.
- 2019: The 2019 Tory manifesto pledged to
‘add 10,000 more prison places'.
- 2023: In September 2023, it was
reported that ‘plans
for 20,000 additional prison places by the mid-2020s are not
expected to be completed until 2030 due to planning delays'.
- 2024: The 2024 Tory manifesto pledged to
‘build four new prisons, completing our programme of 20,000 new
prison places by 2030'.
Additional sources:
- The increase in prison places
between May 2010 and April 2024 was 14,142. The decrease in
prison places was 11,651. Other changes in prison places capacity
resulted in a decrease of 2,009. This is a total decrease of
13,660. This means the net increase in prison places was 482.
