More cells being built within prisons to help tackle overcrowding

The government is directing £110m toward the creation of additional prison cells within existing facilities across England and Wales as part of its strategy to ease overcrowding. The funding, described as having been “fast-tracked from existing budgets,” will be used to convert unused office space, laundry rooms and storage areas into cells, accelerating the delivery of hundreds of new prison places. Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Alex Norris said the authorities would be “getting spades successful the crushed quicker to present thousands much places to fastener up unsafe criminals and support the nationalist safe.” He added, “This authorities is superior astur fixing the breached situation strategy we inherited, which is wherefore we've already delivered much than 3,200 situation places successful conscionable 2 years.” Norris continued, “We're present investing to boost these efforts further.” The announcement arrives amid a crisis in the prison system, which is operating near maximum capacity, and follows criticism of the government’s handling of an early release scheme. Investment in additional prison capacity was outlined in the government’s 2025 spending review, covering the period from 2024‑25 to 2029‑30. As part of that review, a £7bn capital allocation was earmarked to provide 14,000 prison places by 2031. The £110m announced on Monday is not a new investment; it is drawn from previously announced funding. The Lord Chancellor will update Parliament on Tuesday, setting out changes to forthcoming sentencing reforms that will block hundreds more unsafe offenders from earlier release. Additional measures include plans to remove foreign national offenders more swiftly and to end the historical injustice of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in a manner that balances fairness with public safety, according to the government. Shadow Justice head Nick Timothy responded, “It is absurd for Labour to speech astir a 'prison gathering boom' erstwhile determination are 700 less situation places than a twelvemonth ago.” He warned, “In a substance of weeks thousands of unsafe criminals volition beryllium released onto our streets acknowledgment to Andy Burnham, including perpetrators of immoderate of the astir vile crimes.” An additional £18.9m will be invested in critical services for victims, a sum that will be reprioritised from existing budgets and placed on top of the £550m already announced by the government for victim support. The Ministry of Justice states that the services “will supply the specializer affectional and applicable enactment needed to assistance victims determination connected with their lives.” The Ministry of Justice also confirmed it has signed a declaration to begin construction of a new jailhouse for 1,700 100 inmates in Lancashire.