Police cells to be used to hold prisoners as Labour triggers ’emergency measure’ in bid to tackle jail overcrowding
Police cells are being repurposed to hold prisoners in an emergency measure to tackle prison overcrowding, Labour has announced.
With jails once again close to filling up entirely, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed to GB News that “Operation Safeguard” will be activated for the second time in less than a year.
It was last used in May 2024 – and despite Labour’s controversial early release scheme last year, there are fewer than 800 spaces left across the entirety of England and Wales.
An MoJ statement shared with The People’s Channel this morning called Operation Safeguard a “well-established process” and vowed it would only be a temporary measure before a new 1,500-capacity jail opens near York in a few weeks.
It said: “The new Government inherited a prison system in crisis and took the necessary action to stop our jails from running out of cells.
“We have always said that would only be a temporary relief, while we build 14,000 new prison places and reform sentencing to ensure our prisons reduce reoffending, cut crime and make our streets safer.
“Operation Safeguard is a well-established process that will help manage temporary capacity pressures, ahead of the new 1,500 capacity HMP Millsike opening in a few weeks’ time.”
The number of inmates in England and Wales has shot up to 87,556 – the highest number since September, just before the early release scheme.
MORE ON BRITAIN’S PRISONS CRISIS:
- ‘Someone will commit a horrific crime’: Labour accused of releasing prisoners ‘willy-nilly’ amid overcrowding crisis
- Prisons ‘will run out of space’ within 18 months despite Labour’s commitment to spend £10bn for 14,000 new places
- ‘Just build some more!’ Barrister fumes at ‘open prisons’ idea: ‘It is just silly!’
That, alongside further releases of small numbers of prisoners through November and December, meant the overall total fell by nearly 3,000 between the September 6 peak and the end of 2024, when it stood at 85,618.
But since the turn of the year, the number has been climbing, and has grown by 1,938 – wiping out around two thirds of the early release drop entirely.
Sources close to the prison service told Sky News that the scheme has not had the desired effect – as the Government hoped the measure would free up enough space in jails to last until 2026.
While MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have warned that the system faces “total gridlock” with 2026 in mind.
The committee warned on Friday that the prison and probation service was “entirely reliant” on “uncertain” future measures to prevent it running out of places – which it hopes will come from David Gauke’s independent sentencing review, expected to be published in the spring.
Reacting to the prison figures yesterday, Andrea Coomber, the chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform charity, said: “Prisons have been asked to do too much, with too little, for too long, and today’s figures reveal that even the early release of thousands of people has given the Government only a few more months to solve this problem for good.
“It could not be clearer that further action is necessary.
“Ministers have acknowledged that they cannot build their way out of this crisis. We must send fewer people to prison, curb the use of recall after release, and prioritise delivering an effective and responsive probation service that works to cut crime in the community.”