The Justice Committee has launched a new inquiry into the prison
population, to find out:
- Who is in prison and who is expected to be imprisoned over
the next 5 years;
- The reasons prisoners are there, why they stay there and why
they return;
- Whether the MoJ and prison services currently have a credible
approach to accommodating the changes anticipated.
The deadline for written evidence is 4 December 2017.
Over the past 15 years the prison population has risen by 20%.
Since May 2017 it has unexpectedly risen by 950, and further
increases are expected in the next 5 years.
Pressures on the prison population are driven by a number of
factors including sentencing policy and practice; policing
priorities; the parole system; and, community based provision
including mental health, alcohol and drug treatment services.
At the end of September 2017, 71 of the 117 prisons in England
and Wales were overcrowded.
The make-up of the prison population is changing: the numbers in
the youth justice system have fallen by 70% in the past 10 years,
but found in his recent review that
the proportion from BAME background has increased. The increase
in older prisoners is expected to continue, drive partly by
increases in convictions for historic sex offending.
England and Wales has the highest imprisonment rate in western
Europe.
Committee Chair said:
“Pressures on the prison population are driven by a number of
factors including sentencing policy and practice, policing
priorities, the parole system, and community based provision
including mental health and drug treatment services – as well as
wider issues in society. We aim to find out what has led to the
current size and make-up of the prison population, and scrutinise
the MoJ’s plans for the safe and effective management of prisons
over the next 5 years.”
The evidence received will inform the Committee’s future work,
including fuller consideration of how best to manage the prison
population up to 2022.
Government Responses to Justice Committee reports on
prisons
The Justice Committee in the 2015-2017 Parliament conducted
inquiries into Governor empowerment and
prison performance, and on the Prisons and Courts
Bill. The latter fell at the dissolution of Parliament
and is not expected to be re-introduced as prisons were not
included in the Court Reform Bill planned for this session of
Parliament. The Government’s Responses to both these reports are
published today and can be found here.
