PRT comment: Opening of HMP Millsike

Commenting on the opening of HMP Millsike, Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“Given the projected increase in the prison population, some additional capacity is necessary to prevent dangerous levels of overcrowding. However, as the secretary of state acknowledges, the government cannot build its way out of this crisis.

“Even if the current prison building programme remains on track, without further measures to reduce demand, it is widely anticipated that the prison system will run out of space as early as the beginning of next year. This is why it will be vital for the sentencing review to bring forward bold measures to reduce the prison population in the short to medium term, and turn the tide on the runaway sentence inflation of the past two decades which has led us to this crisis point.”