UK Government fast-tracks £110m to create hundreds of new prison places

The UK Government is investing £110 million to accelerate the creation of hundreds of prison places, including converting unused offices, laundries and storage areas into cells as ministers seek to relieve pressure on an overcrowded prison estate.

The funding, announced by Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Alex Norris on 1 September, will also be used to speed up construction and acquire land for future prisons. The Government says the programme forms part of plans to deliver 14,000 additional prison places by 2031.

Lord Chancellor said: “This Government is serious about fixing the broken prison system we inherited, which is why we’ve already delivered more than 3,200 prison places in just two years. We’re now investing to boost these efforts further – getting spades in the ground quicker to deliver thousands more places to lock up dangerous criminals and keep the public safe.”

The announcement comes as Prime Minister Andy Burnham prepares to address the House of Commons for the first time since taking office six weeks ago. Burnham is expected to set out his wider agenda after Parliament’s summer recess, while Norris will separately update MPs on prison capacity, sentencing reforms and changes to the government’s controversial early-release programme.

The £110 million has been fast-tracked from existing departmental budgets rather than representing entirely new spending. Ministers hope the money will provide capacity more quickly while the much longer process of building new prisons continues.

Prison laundries and unused offices will be converted as ministers look for capacity inside the existing estate

Part of the plan involves searching the existing prison estate for space that can be turned into accommodation without waiting for new buildings.

Laundry rooms, administrative offices and storage areas are among those being considered. Norris said the conversions could produce hundreds of additional places, a relatively small number against the government’s longer-term building programme but potentially important in a system operating close to capacity.

The proposal has raised an obvious question over how prisons would continue operating if facilities such as laundries were taken over.

The Government says more than 3,200 prison places have been delivered over the past two years, but the next phase is considerably larger. Another 14,000 are planned by 2031, much of them through new construction.

UK’s ageing prison estate adds another complication. Many prisons date from the Victorian era, and capacity can fall unexpectedly when cells or entire sections have to be taken out of use because of fires, maintenance or other problems.

New 1,700-place Lancashire prison moves ahead as Government accelerates wider building programme

Alongside the short-term conversions, ministers have signed a contract allowing the first phase of work to begin on a new 1,700-place prison in Lancashire. The Government is also putting money towards buying land that could accommodate prisons in the future, an attempt to create a pipeline of sites before capacity again reaches crisis point.

The Ministry of Justice describes the programme as the largest expansion of prison building since the Victorian era. It says the government is now spending more than three times as much on new prisons as was spent during the previous seven years.

But new prisons take years to plan and build. That gap between immediate demand and future capacity is why ministers are turning to conversions within existing jails while simultaneously pressing ahead with construction.

The £110 million package therefore operates on two fronts: finding cells that can be delivered relatively quickly and accelerating projects intended to provide a more permanent increase in capacity.

Norris is expected to tell Parliament that further changes to sentencing reforms will prevent hundreds more dangerous offenders from qualifying for earlier release. Ministers also plan to accelerate the removal of foreign national offenders and address prisoners serving controversial Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences.

Burnham faces Commons as prison overcrowding becomes an early test for his Government

The prison announcement lands on a significant day for the new administration. Burnham is due at the despatch box for the first time as Prime Minister after taking over from Sir Keir Starmer six weeks ago while Parliament was in recess.

His appearance will range well beyond prisons. Burnham is expected to outline his devolution agenda and his plans to transfer greater powers away from Whitehall and the Treasury, while presenting what Downing Street has described as a change of pace under his leadership.

The prison system, however, presents a more immediate problem. Building thousands of new cells will take years, while the government needs enough capacity to keep the system functioning now.