Prisons will run out of space in just 5 MONTHS as government unveils raft of new measures to tackle overcrowding crisis
JAIL FEARS
MEN'S prisons are set to run out of space in just five months time with the justice system in chaos - sparking a new jail building plan.
A massive £4.7 billion plan to build three new prisons has been given the green light to deal with the shortage of space.
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Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said it was 'shameful' that in this country finds itself in the 'cycle of crisis'.
She added that there has been a 'total breakdown in law and order'. She said that her Tory predecessors 'failed to act'.
Mahmood announced that those serving sentences between one and four years will only be recalled for a 28-day period.
The measure comes after those being recalled has jumped significantly in recent years.
The recall population was just 100 in 1993, before rising to 6,000 in 2018 and soared to 13,600 in March this year.
Amy Rees, interim permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, said: 'The total prison population is 88,087 and the adult male estate is operating at approximately 99% of its capacity every year.
'On our current trajectory, the prison population rises by 3,000, and now we expect to hit zero capacity, to entirely run out of prison places for adult men, in November of this year.
The UK will run out of prison spaces entirely by November of this year, Amy Rees, interim permanent secretary to the Ministry of Justice said today.
The population of prisoners has been rising by about 3,000 each year - the equivalent of two new prisons full.
The Government has today a raft of new measures to tackle prison overcrowding with jails on the brink of collapse AGAIN despite thousands getting early release.
Shabana Mahmood has set out a stop-gap solution afternoon as the country's jails are once again at 99 per cent capacity.
It comes ahead of the Sentencing Review new week which is set to recommend that prisoners who behave well will only have to serve a third of their sentences under a radical shake up.
The Justice Secretary is due to accept plans drawn up in David Gauke's sentencing review which is set to be published next week.
Instead of automatic release, each convict will be given a minimum and maximum sentence, depending on how serious the offence is.
Which length of time they serve will depend on whether they engage with rehabilitation in prison, training programmes, and education.
It mirrors the Texas system which Ms Mahmood traveled to see earlier this year.
And it comes after a prison guard had their throat slashed by an inmate in the latest incident of growing violence behind bars.
The staff member was attacked at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, according to the union representing prison officers.
A prisoner used an improvised weapon to attack the staff member who needed stitches to their neck and ear as a result.
Another violent incident at the same jail involved an inmate who is locked up for terrorism charges.
And a near fatal attack at HMP Frankland by Manchester arena terrorist Hashem Abedi saw the lag throw hot cooking oil and stab three prison officers.
An investigation is also underway into how Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was able to hurl scolding water over a prison officer inside HMP Belmarsh.
The latest weekly prison population in England and Wales stands at 88,087, 434 below the last peak in the prison population of 88,521 inmates in September.
Just days after last year's peak in numbers, the Government began freeing thousands of prisoners early as part of efforts to curb jail overcrowding.
Ministers ordered early releases by temporarily reducing the proportion of sentences which some prisoners must serve behind bars from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.
As a result prisoners were seen dancing in the streets outside jails and popping champagne, in scenes which were widely criticised.
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