UK to rent out foreign prison spaces amid growing capacity crisis
The UK government is considering renting prison space from foreign countries to address the severe shortage of prison spaces domestically. Preliminary discussions have already begun with potential European partners. Successful models in Norway and Belgium, which entered into agreements with the Netherlands, were cited as examples. Prisoners could be relocated to foreign facilities that meet British standards.
In a bid to address the severe shortage of prison spaces domestically, the
UK government has revealed plans to explore the possibility of renting prison space from foreign countries.
According to the Guardian, the announcement was made at the
Conservative Party conference where the Tories disclosed that preliminary discussions have already commenced with potential
European partners .
The Conservatives pointed to successful models in Norway and Belgium, both of which entered into agreements with the Netherlands to alleviate their own prison capacity challenges.
Under agreements, if stuck, prisoners could be relocated to foreign facilities that meet British standards in terms of facilities, regimes, and rehabilitation. Recent scrutiny of British prison standards reached a point where a German court refused to extradite a prisoner to the UK due to concerns about the conditions.
The government's overarching plan to add 20,000 extra prison places by the mid-2020s is reportedly experiencing delays due to disagreements in the planning phase, reports the Mirror.
Emphasizing in government's commitment to expanding prison capacity, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said, "This government is doing more than any since the Victorian era to expand prison capacity."
Critics of the current government, including prison reform advocates and the Labour Party, called this move indicative of the current government’s failure to address the prison needs and find solutions to the growing crime problem.
Andrew Neilson, Director of Campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, characterized the move as "desperation” on X (formerly Twitter). “Now the political response to a prison system on its knees is not to ease pressure on that system, nor to invest in improvements at home, but instead to waste taxpayers’ money on renting prison cells abroad.” added Neilson.
The Conservative party argued that the average custodial sentence has increased by 57% since their coalition government came to power in 2010.
England and Wales currently have the third-highest prison population in Europe, trailing behind Russia and Turkey, with over 87K prisoners as of September 29. Projections estimate an increase to 94.4K by March 2025 which can fuel a capacity crisis in the prison system.