7 August 2009 – prison population hits new record high

The latest figures released by the Prison Service today show the prison population to be at a new record high of 84,150. In response, Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

This is the latest measure of the mess our prisons are in. The prison population has now increased by almost 25,000 people since 1997. It is difficult to see how government can continue to waste billions building more prisons while ignoring the reasons why numbers have shot up.

Given the pressure on public spending, ministers must break their addiction to imprisonment and make better use of cost-effective ways to tackle the causes of crime.

Investing in preventative work with children in trouble and diverting vulnerable women, drug addicts and binge drinkers, the mentally ill and people with learning disabilities into the care or treatment they need would cut crime and improve public health at a fraction of the cost of vacuous prison building.