Juvenile offenders will be spared to free up space in overcrowded prisons

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Juvenile offenders should be spared from prison and forced to perform community service in a bid to free up prison space, the government.

Amid warnings that there is simply no more room in prisons, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said that in addition, some prisoners would be released under license up to 18 days early.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Mr Chalk He admitted the prison system was "under pressure", with the prison population in England and the country of Wales currently being higher than it has ever been. But he added that moving towards non-custodial sentences could help reduce crime in the long term.

As part of the reforms unveiled by the Justice Secretary, ministers will also have to publish a annual statement of prison capacity and will be reported to Parliament.

And the Ministry of Justice said it had commissioned “urgent” work to identify new sites to increase the prison capacity, supported by £400 million of funds. Foreign prisoners will also be returned to their home countries more quickly, in a bid to reduce pressure on UK prisons.

Mr. Chalk told MPs on Monday that the government should “do whatever it takes to ensure there are always enough places in prison”. He also announced plans to ensure rapists would serve their full prison sentences and not be released prematurely.

But this comes after The Independent revealed the last week that Rishi Sunak had been released. The National Audit Office said three years ago that prisons would be full by the second half of 2023 – and has still failed to avert the crisis.

The Times< /em> reported last week that Lord Justice Edis, the most senior judge president of England and Wales, had ordered that the sentencing of convicted criminals currently on bail be delayed.

< p>M. Chalk told the Commons that sentencing was a matter for the justice system and that some reports were “inaccurate”. But he said: “Prisons should not ruin what is redeemable, and it is clear that too often the circumstances that lead to a first offense are exacerbated by a short stay in prison. »

Labour's shadow justice secretary. , Shabana Mahmood, said Mr Chalk had offered "not a word of apology to the British public for failing in the first duty of government, that of keeping our...