Fixing our broken prison system

For far too long, years of neglect and mismanagement by the previous Conservative government have plunged our prison system into deep crisis.

Overcrowded, understaffed and unable to adequately rehabilitate offenders, the system is now on the verge of collapse.

This crisis did not arise overnight. The Conservatives should never have allowed it to get this far and it is now up to the new government to take urgent action to resolve the problem.

The Liberal Democrats have a clear plan to tackle this crisis, focusing first on the fundamental problems: reducing reoffending and tackling the backlog in the criminal courts.

A broken system that requires urgent action

Currently, the prison population in England and Wales is at dangerously high levels. With 87,453 people behind bars and a maximum capacity of just 88,864, we are on the brink of a complete collapse of our prison system. Overcrowding means that our prisons are not just places of punishment – they have become places where offenders cannot be properly rehabilitated, leading to high reoffending rates.

Shockingly Three quarters of all former prisoners reoffend within nine years of their releaseand 4 in 10 do so within the first 12 months. This relapse epidemic costs our society £18.1 billion every year. It is clear: the current system is not working.

The situation is even worse for pretrial detainees. In March 2024, the number of those awaiting trial reached a record high of 16,458. These individuals now make up 20% of the total prison population. Much of this is due to the backlog in criminal courts, meaning people languish in prison without a trial, contributing to the overcrowding crisis.

A Liberal Democrat plan for change

The current government must act now to address these problems and prevent our prison system from becoming completely unsustainable. That is why today we have adopted new policies to fix our broken prison system:

• Reduce the court backlog: We need to reduce the number of people held on remand by clearing the backlog in the criminal courts. This means prioritising hearings of defendants in custody to speed up justice and reduce pressure on our prison system.
• Protecting the public: It is vital that violent prisoners, including perpetrators of domestic violence, are not eligible for early release. Public safety must always come first.
• Adequately fund probation services: All early release programs must be accompanied by additional resources for probation services to cope with the increased workload. Releasing prisoners without the necessary support is a recipe for disaster.
• Rehabilitate yourself, do not reoffend: We need to break the cycle of recidivism. That is why we propose avoiding short prison sentences of 12 months or less and instead focusing on rehabilitation in the community.
• Better training and rehabilitation: For those serving a prison sentence, rehabilitation must be at the heart of our approach. This means investing in better training, education and work opportunities, and introducing a mentoring programme to support prisoners in their reintegration into society.
• Recruit more prison guards: Finally, we must address the staffing crisis in our prisons by urgently putting forward a plan to recruit and retain more prison guards. Overworked and overburdened staff simply cannot cope with the current situation, let alone a situation where the prison population continues to rise.