Increasing the capacity of the prison estate to meet demand

As part of the government?s mission-driven approach to tackling crime, MoJ, the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, the Home Office and other government bodies should work together to review the coherence of the government?s policy objectives and the size of, and funding for, its prison estate so they can be clear on spending priorities. This should include policies internal to the justice system such as on remand, parole and sentencing; and wider government objectives in areas such as policing, health and immigration. Specifically: MoJ should use existing cross-government mechanisms to seek agreement on how to improve alignment between government objectives which impact the prison population, and on the capacity required to support these aims. This should include the level of risk the government is willing to tolerate around capacity pressures in the estate;

MoJ should combine thinking on policy objectives for the prison estate and improved evidence of different approaches to develop a long-term strategy to improve the resilience of the estate. It should: set out contingency plans for any unexpected increases in demand.

As part of the government?s mission-driven approach to tackling crime, MoJ, the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, the Home Office and other government bodies should work together to review the coherence of the government?s policy objectives and the size of, and funding for, its prison estate so they can be clear on spending priorities. This should include policies internal to the justice system such as on remand, parole and sentencing; and wider government objectives in areas such as policing, health and immigration. Specifically: MoJ should set out its case for longer-term funding to ensure it can develop and maintain the supporting capacity; and

As part of the government?s mission-driven approach to tackling crime, MoJ, the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, the Home Office and other government bodies should work together to review the coherence of the government?s policy objectives and the size of, and funding for, its prison estate so they can be clear on spending priorities. This should include policies internal to the justice system such as on remand, parole and sentencing; and wider government objectives in areas such as policing, health and immigration. Specifically: HM Treasury should assess whether MoJ?s suggested funding approach would provide better value for money than current arrangements, such as in other areas of government where multi-year funding arrangements are in place.

MoJ should improve its case for bolstering the resilience of the estate by evaluating: the cost-effectiveness of different options to alleviate capacity pressures, given the benefit of experience, and which ones are most suitable when;

MoJ should combine thinking on policy objectives for the prison estate and improved evidence of different approaches to develop a long-term strategy to improve the resilience of the estate. It should: include the rationale for its approach based on value for money, for example, how it will balance the role of maintenance against expansion and how it will consider the impacts on other bodies such as the probation service;

MoJ should combine thinking on policy objectives for the prison estate and improved evidence of different approaches to develop a long-term strategy to improve the resilience of the estate. It should: set out how it will ensure it has the capability to implement its approach; and