Union: Crisis measures to tackle overcrowding in English prisons imminent | Prisons and probation

The introduction of an emergency plan to avoid overcrowding in prisons in England could be announced as early as Monday, the Prison Officers' Association said.

This long-standing measure, known as Operation Early Dawn, would allow defendants to be held in police cells until prison beds become available, which could mean their court dates could be rescheduled or adjourned at short notice.

Mark Fairhurst, the POA's national chairman, said the measure risked “clogging up police cells” and blamed rioters for increasing pressure on prisons.

The Observer reported over the weekend that prison operations are expected to begin this week. The prison was already operational for several days in March when prison capacity reached a critical level.

Fairhurst told BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House on Sunday: “Last week we had the biggest influx of new admissions I have seen for a long time. We had 397 new admissions. As of Friday we only had 340 places left in the adult men's closed accommodation, which is under the most pressure.

“I would not be surprised if the Justice Department announced sometime tomorrow morning that Operation Early Dawn will begin sometime next week, probably starting Tuesday.

“The bottlenecks are currently in the northeast and northwest. Anyone who commits a crime in these areas will probably be taken 100 to 200 miles from home to serve their sentence because there are simply not enough places there.”

An internal document said prison staff would make a daily assessment of how many people detained by police could be brought to scheduled court hearings, released on bail or how many cases would be postponed.

Operation Early Dawn was last launched by the Conservative government in May.

Last week, Downing Street confirmed that rioters jailed for their part in the violent unrest following the Southport knife attack could be released early due to the prison overcrowding crisis.