Prison System: Independent Review
House of Commons · Written Statements · 1 Jul 2026 · 1 speech · Official Report
This Government inherited a prison system in crisis, with prisons on the verge of collapse. Dame Anne Owers’s independent review of prison capacity has set out that, shortly after the announcement of the 2024 general election, at one point there were fewer than 100 places available in adult male prisons, and that the system had been in crisis for over 18 months. The immediate action had to be to stabilise the system to ensure sufficient prison places to hold offenders sentenced to custody. Considerable work has already been undertaken to this effect, including through implementation of the Sentencing Act. While the last Government added fewer than 500 net places overall to the prison estate in 14 years, we have already delivered c3,100 places and aim to deliver 14,000 additional prison places by 2031. We have seen some early signs of progress made possible by that stabilisation: in the 12 months to December 2025, rates of assaults on staff and self-harm in custody decreased by 4.5% and 8% respectively. But we must be clear that the challenges facing the prison system are not only immediate but structural, evolving and long term in nature. We are continuing to build on the progress made: we are investing a further £35 million this year in improving security across 17 of our most challenging establishments. This covers the installation of up to 13,000 new heavy duty steel grilles by spring 2027, preventing contraband-such as drugs and weapons-from being delivered into cells by...