Prisons set to be full by Easter – after plans to release offenders up to two months early revealed
The prime minister’s spokesperson has indicated that prisons are set to be full by Easter.
It comes as the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk announced measures in a House of Commons speech that will target reductions in the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) in UK prisons.
There are around 10,000 such offenders in the prison system at the moment.
Mr Chalk said the government will “radically change” the way it deals with FNOs to free up space in prisons – including allowing some prisoners to be released from prison up to two months early.
The extension to the end of custody supervised licence (ECSL) scheme, announced on Monday, would take it from 18 days to a maximum of 60 days to try and ease overcrowding pressures in jails in England and Wales.
The government has insisted this measure would be temporary, but Sky News previously disclosed leaked documents which reveal intentions for it to last for an “undefined” period. It was “updated” and “revised” to apply in new prisons, building on the 21 where the scheme was initially launched.
Mr Chalk told the Commons today: “I can tell the House that we will radically change the way that FNO cases are processed. We have created a new task force across the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, including the Prison Service, immigration enforcement, and asylum and modern slavery teams.
“We have surged 400 additional caseworkers to prioritise these cases. They will be in place by the end of March, and we will streamline the end-to-end removal process.
“Second, we are expanding the number of FNOs we can remove, for example by bringing forward legislation to allow us to remove foreign offenders with limited leave to remain under conditional caution.”
File pic: iStock
The Justice Secretary said this work was building on reforms he set out in October, including extending the early removal scheme from a maximum period of 12 months to 18 months “so that eligible FNOs can be deported up to six months earlier”.
Mr Chalk said almost 400 FNOs have already been removed from the UK as a result, adding that a “robust new agreement with Albania” and plans in the Criminal Justice Bill to rent prisons overseas would also help.
Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, said the extension was “unprecedented”.
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Replying to Mr Chalk’s statement in the Commons, she said: “Let us be in no doubt, this is the most drastic form of early release for prisoners that this country has ever seen, and in his 11-page and 10-minute long statement today, it merited one paragraph.
“This is a measure which will cause shockwaves and deep concern across our country, and the secretary of state seems to think a quiet written ministerial statement published late last night and one paragraph today is good enough – it is not.”
According to Ministry of Justice figures, the prison population stood at 88,220 as of 8 March.
The operational capacity is a little over 89,000.
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Prisons charity the Howard League states that the prison estate should not hold more than 79,597 people.
Labour MP Andy Slaughter told the justice secretary that, on a visit to HMP Wormwood Scrubs in west London with Prisons Minister Edward Argar, they saw “doubling up in single cells with unshielded toilets” and “overcrowding affecting time out of cell and access to work”.
Mr Chalk blamed overcrowding on a mix of factors, including criminals serving longer sentences under tougher punishment laws and the refusal to follow other countries’ lead by freeing low-risk prisoners during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Politics
Row over how many farms will be affected by inheritance tax policy – as PM doubles down ahead of farmers protest
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted the “vast majority of farmers” will not be affected by changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) ahead of a protest outside parliament on Tuesday.
It follows Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing a 20% inheritance tax that will apply to farms worth more than £1m from April 2026, where they were previously exempt.
But the prime minister looked to quell fears as he resisted calls to change course.
Speaking from the G20 summit in Brazil, he said: “If you take a typical case of a couple wanting to pass a family farm down to one of their children, which would be a very typical example, with all of the thresholds in place, that’s £3m before any inheritance tax is paid.”
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The comments come as thousands of farmers, including celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson, are due to descend on Whitehall on Tuesday to protest the change.
And 1,800 more will take part in a “mass lobby” where members of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) will meet their MPs in parliament to urge them to ask Ms Reeves to reconsider the policy.
Speaking to broadcasters, Sir Keir insisted the government is supportive of farmers, pointing to a £5bn investment announced for them in the budget.
He said: “I’m confident that the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected at all by that aspect of the budget.
“They will be affected by the £5bn that we’re putting into farming. And I’m very happy to work with farmers on that.”
Sir Keir’s spokesman made a similar argument earlier on Monday, saying the government expects 73% of farms to not be affected by the change.
Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs Secretary Steve Reed said only about 500 out of the UK’s 209,000 farms would be affected, according to Treasury calculations.
However, that number has been questioned by several farming groups and the Conservatives.
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The NFU said the real number is about two-thirds, with its president Tom Bradshaw calling the government’s figures “misleading” and accusing it of not understanding the sector.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the policy could affect 70,000 farms.
Conservative shadow farming minister Robbie Moore accused the government last week of “regurgitating” figures that represent “past claimants of agricultural property relief, not combined with business property relief” because he said the Treasury does not have that data.
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Agricultural property relief (APR) currently provides farmers 100% relief from paying inheritance tax on agricultural land or pasture used for rearing livestock or fish, and can include woodland and buildings, such as farmhouses, if they are necessary for that land to function.
Farmers can also claim business property relief (BPR), providing 50% or 100% relief on assets used by a trading business, which for farmers could include land, buildings, plant or machinery used by the business, farm shops and holiday cottages.
APR and BPR can often apply to the same asset, especially farmed land, but APR should be the priority, however BPR can be claimed in addition if APR does not cover the full value (e.g. if the land has development value above its agricultural value).
APR and BPR can apply to farmland, which the Conservatives say has been overlooked by the Treasury in compiling its impact figures. File pic: iStock
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Mr Moore said the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Treasury have disagreed on how many farms will be impacted “by as much as 40%” due to the lack of data on farmers using BPR.
Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said last week1,400 farmers in Cumbria, where he is an MP, will be affected and will not be able to afford to pay the tax as many are on less than the minimum wage despite being asset rich.
Politics
Cabinet split over assisted dying as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson latest to reveal she will vote against bill
A split is emerging in the cabinet, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson revealing she will join several of her colleagues and vote against the bill to legalise assisted dying.
Ms Phillipson told Sky News she will vote against the proposed legislation at the end of this month, which would give terminally ill people with six months to live the option to end their lives.
She voted against assisted dying in 2015 and said: “I haven’t changed my mind.
“I continue to think about this deeply. But my position hasn’t changed since 2015.”
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Details of end of life bill released
MPs will be given a free vote on the bill, so they will not be told how to vote by their party.
The topic has seen a split in the cabinet – however, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has yet to reveal how he will vote on 29 November.
Ms Phillipson joins some other big names who have publicly said they are voting against the bill
These include Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Border security minister Angela Eagle is also voting against the bill.
Senior cabinet members voting in favour of assisted dying include Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Science Secretary Peter Kyle, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.
The split over the issue is said to be causing friction within government, with Sir Keir rebuking the health secretary for repeatedly saying he is against the bill and for ordering officials to review the costs of implementing any changes in the law.
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting has called for a cost report into assisted dying. Pic: PA
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates has been told Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s chief of staff, is concerned about the politics of the bill passing.
He is understood to be worried the issue will dominate the agenda next year and, while he is not taking a view on the bill, he can see it taking over the national conversation and distracting from core government priorities like the economy and borders.
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Details of the bill were published last week and include people wanting to end their life having to self-administer the medicine.
It would only be allowed for terminally ill people who have been given six months to live.
Two independent doctors would have to confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge would have to give their approval before it could go ahead.
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