Prisons continue to live hand-to-mouth, even before early release program | UK news

Two things currently seem to be a long way off in the prison system: September and reform.

A new government early release comes into force on September 10 and means that thousands of offenders will be released earlier than before to make room.

The timing of automatic release will be reduced from 50% of a sentence to 40%, meaning eligible offenders will be released to serve the remainder of their sentence on probation, with the exception of domestic violence offenders and serious violent criminals.

This date will provide a respite for the government and the almost bursting prison system.

There are still three weeks to go, but it feels even further away as the service continues to live hand to mouth, trying to stave off the prospect of daily overcrowding disasters as prisons across England and Wales edge ever closer to full capacity. the consequence of the verdict for insurrection.

When Sky News asked Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood in July about the risks to public safety – lurching from one emergency measure to the next while the probation service fears work pressures and strains – she said there was “no risk-free option” and the government had little choice given what it had inherited.

You have to get people out – immediately.

The Prison Service likes to work with a margin of around 1,400 free places. Sky News today understands that there are just over 300 free places in the men's section. They believe they cannot work with less than 300. These figures highlight the lack of margin and the reason for today's action.

Operation Early Dawn is described as an “emergency measure” and a “short-term measure” – but the sporadic activation of this type of measure appears far more permanent than any minister would like to admit.

The government is facing severe pressure on prisons: overcrowding, staff shortages, high levels of violence and a thriving illegal drug market.

Just today, two new reports by Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor revealed disturbing findings. At HMP Durham – one of the most crowded prisons – 86% of prisoners lived in overcrowded conditions, with two people housed in cells designed for one.

And at HMP Nottingham, the report found that the prison was under “constant pressure” to accommodate new arrivals, that “high” levels of violence prevailed and that a “chaotic” early release programme was in place – with a “quarter” of homeless people released resulting in “unavoidable recalls”.

Therefore, it still seems a long way off whether the new government will implement meaningful reforms.

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Government has “provided additional prison places”, says minister

When the Early Dawn trigger came into effect this morning, the Government press release included a statement from the new Prisons Minister, Lord Timpson.

He gave great hope to prison reformers and is widely known as the cobbler who uses ex-offenders to retrain and rehabilitate them. He believes that a third of those behind bars should not be there but should be living in society.

But his statement today reminded people that the Government had “provided additional prison space” to deal with the rioters. Ministers have been clear that they believe the detention of these offenders was the right thing to do – “swift justice”, they say, has acted as a deterrent and put the unrest behind us.

Ideology gives way to immediacy

For Lord Timpson and his reformers, the idea of ​​simply creating thousands of extra prison places runs counter to what he believes is the solution to the bigger picture: fewer people in prison and greater efforts at rehabilitation.

But the reality is that ideology is giving way to immediacy. And it might stay that way for a while.