Criminals could be sent to serve time in rented jail cells abroad, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk reveals
- Chalk has already launched discussions to hire prison space in other countries
Criminals could be sent abroad to serve time in rented foreign jail cells, the Justice Secretary has revealed.
Alex Chalk has already launched discussions to hire prison space in other countries for the first time.
Jails in England and Wales currently have 87,800 inmates and official projections say they could run out of room by the end of the year. Renting foreign prison cells will require a change in the law.
A Tory spokesman said: ‘Exploratory discussions with possible partners in Europe have already taken place and are ongoing.
‘Agreements would mean that prisoners in the UK could be moved to another country’s prison estate provided the facilities, regime and rehabilitation provided meets British standards.
Criminals could be sent abroad to serve time in rented foreign jail cells, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk (pictured on Tuesday). Mr Chalk has already launched discussions to hire prison space in other countries for the first time
‘This is an established approach which has been used by other European countries including Belgium and Norway who have moved prisoners to the Netherlands.’
Mr Chalk told Tory party conference: ‘We intend to look at the Norwegian example of renting overseas capacity.
‘This government is doing more than any since the Victorian era to expand prison capacity.
‘Alongside our extra 20,000 prison places programme, refurbishment of old prisons and rapid deployment cells, renting prison places in other countries will ensure that we always have the space to keep the public safe from the most dangerous offenders.’
Belgium sent up to 650 prisoners to the Netherlands from 2010 until 2016, while Norway sent a similar number between 2015 and 2018, the Conservatives said.
The chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, Pia Sinha, (pictured) described it as a ‘half-baked idea’ and called for criminals to be freed instead
The chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, Pia Sinha, described it as a ‘half-baked idea’ and called for criminals to be freed instead.
‘Prison leaders will be in despair at such a superficial response to their very real and urgent concerns.
‘The red warning light of a looming capacity crisis has been flashing on the prison service dashboard for a number of months. Ministers can’t say they haven’t been warned.
‘They urgently need to bring forward practical plans to reduce pressure on the system, including the executive release of some prisoners. The risks of not doing so are too perilous to ignore.’
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