Expert Witness Journal Issue 63 October 2025 - Flipbook - Page 51
Crisis in Custody:
The Unfolding Human Rights
Emergency in UK Prisons
by Shivani Mehta and Maria O’Connell - www.hja.net
The prison system in England and Wales is no doubt
facing an unprecedented crisis. The number of
prisoners is still at a six-month high and there are
approximately 87,500 people in custody. The Public
Accounts Committee (PAC) has produced a critical
report urging the Gov-ernment to take rapid action
to address this crisis.
Criticisms from the PAC
In its report, the PAC has set out recommendations
for the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and HM Prison and
Probation Services (HMPPS) so that they can take
steps to address the prison crisis. The main criticisms
and concerns raised by the PAC report are summarised
as follows:
1. Unrealistic and delayed prison expansion plans
2. Inhumane living conditions
3. Ineffective rehabilitation efforts and a failure to
reduce re-offending
The PAC report addresses the UK prison
system crisis highlighting escalating violence, severe
overcrowding and inadequate rehabilitation services.
Overcrowding, understaffing and inadequate resources
have led to a strained system where they have been unable to meet the needs of both detainees and staff.
There has been a growing issue of prisoners being
held temporarily in police cells, rather than being
transferred to prisons or detention facilities. This
raises many human rights concerns.
4. Increased violence and safety risks due to overstretched facilities.
5. A lack of strategic planning
The PAC reports has included several recommendations for the MOJ and HMMPS which should be
addressed in their Treasury of Minute Response:
1. Apply lessons learned from their current projects
to improve future major estate projects
Operation Safeguard and the Use of Police Cells
In an attempt to address the lack of capacity in
prisons, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has implemented Operation Safeguard, an emergency measure allowing for the use of police cells to hold
prisoners when prisons have run out of capacity.
2. Explain how they will ensure plans are realistic,
especially regarding risk management and planning
permission
3. Create a business case to address the prison estate
maintenance backlog
4. Evaluate the impact of prison capacity pressures
(the PAC have highlighted key areas on what this
should focus on)
5. Develop a plan to improve rehabilitation efforts.
6. Outline how changes to probation and sentencing
will affect reoffending rates.
Police cells are designed for the short-term detention
of individuals awaiting processing or court appearances. They are not designed to accommodate prisoners serving long sentences. Such an approach will
no doubt have an impact on the prisoner’s rights and
welfare.
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
49
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2025
