Andy Burnham has been dealt a huge blow as prisons are starting to run out of space again, even with tens of thousands of criminals being spared jail or released early; it has been revealed.
Ministry of Justice figures show that the number of empty places in men’s prisons has fallen below 1,800 for the first time since Labour introduced a rule against jailing anyone for under one year.
The decision, introduced in March this year, has seen thousands of offenders spared jail, as well as more than 43,000 prisoners released just 40 per cent of the way through their sentences.
Initially the change worked, with the number of spaces in men’s prisons over doubling from 1,646 to 3,433.
However, in recent weeks the gains have eroded, with the number of available places falling to 1,783 this week, similarly close to the number that forced the Government to introduce the measure in March.
One senior prison service official told The Telegraph: “The prison situation is extremely tight – there is very little room for manoeuvre.”
The number of men, women and youth prisoners in England and Wales was 86,722 last week, only 2,199 short of the capacity of 88,921.
Men’s prisons are experiencing the most overcrowding, with jails running at 98 per cent capacity, with 83,096 prisoners occupying most of the 84,819 places available.
The Prime Minister has pledged to do “everything possible to minimise early release” and prevent two of the killers of PC Andrew Harper from being freed halfway through their sentences as opposed to two-thirds of the way.
Mr Burnham has also blocked the release of almost 1,000 rpaists and child groomers.
He is now considering whether to keep 500 more people behind bars, convicted of unlawful killings, despite the space issues.
Over 5,000 offenders are set to be released from October onwards for 10 months under Labour’s new scheme.
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