Category C and women’s prisons could be upgraded to ease overcrowding
Summary
Ministers in England and Wales are considering upgrading security at certain men’s category C and women’s prisons to reduce overcrowding. They are exploring moving some male prisoners from higher-security category B prisons to these sites, but changes will require significant security improvements.Key Facts
- Officials are looking at ways to ease overcrowding by moving male prisoners from category B prisons to category C or women’s prisons after upgrading security.
- Category B prisons, called reception prisons, hold many remand and short-term prisoners and are often overcrowded.
- Category C prisons hold about half of all prisoners and focus on preparing them for work and life after release. These prisons have lower security than category B.
- Female prisoners might be moved out of women’s prisons to free up space for men, but this requires upgrading security at those locations.
- Upgrading prison security involves adding features like razor wire, partitions, and surveillance, which takes a long time.
- The number of remand prisoners (those waiting for trial) has increased due to court delays, worsening overcrowding.
- Prison officers and reform experts warn that upgrading security and moving prisoners will take time and may not solve rehabilitation issues.
- Andy Burnham has asked the justice secretary to plan how to free up space and is confident that the killers of PC Andrew Harper will not get early release.
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