The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is being overhauled in anticipation of a “bow wave” of more than 20,000 extra jailed criminals who will push the prison population to a post-war high of nearly 100,000 by 2026.
20 September 2021
Prisons in crisis
Analysts at the department, now headed by Dominic Raab, have calculated that the recruitment of an extra 20,000 police officers, a potential post-pandemic crime rise and longer jail sentences will see prisoner numbers rise by nearly a quarter to a record 98,700 in five years’ time.
This comes on top of a backlog of 60,000 Crown Court cases that has grown by 20,000 during the pandemic. At least half of these defendants will be jailed by judges.
