Number of prisoners in England and Wales hits record high as more rioters jailed

The number of people in prison in England and Wales has hit a record high, with the number jumping by nearly a thousand in the past four weeks.

Some 88,350 people were in prison as of 30 August, Ministry of Justice figures show.

This is up 116 from 88,234 a week ago and an increase of 988 from 87,362 four weeks ago on 2 August.

It is the highest end-of-week figure since weekly population data was first published in 2011, according to analysis.

It also surpasses the highest total ever recorded, which was 88,336 at end the February 2024, based on separate figures for the end-of-month population size.

The sharp rise in recent weeks is likely to have been driven by the number of jail sentences handed to people found guilty of taking part in the recent disorder across parts of the country.

The summer riots were seen in parts of Britain earlier this month in the wake of the stabbings in Southport.

Following the unrest, a total of 460 people appeared in magistrates’ courts in relation to the disorder after more than 1,100 people were, with almost 700 of those charged, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

In response to rise in pressure on prisons, Sir Keir Starmer triggered emergency measures known as Operation Early Dawn.

Under the plans, defendants would be held in police cells and not summoned to magistrates’ court until a space in prison is available. It was implemented in the North East and Yorkshire, Cumbira and Lancashire, and Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire regions.

Also, this month pirsoners will be released early under plans announced by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood for the proportion of the sentence inmates serving behind bars to be cut from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.

The temporary move – which does not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences – is expected to result in 5,500 offenders being released over the next two months.

Carl Davies, vice president of the Prison Governors Association, told The Independent that, while the record-high figures demonstrated the ever-increasing prison population, they don’t show the peaks during the week.

Prisoners coming to the end of their sentences are released on Thursday ahead of the weekend, and so MoJ statistics - which are released on a Friday - show a rosier picture of capacity.

It was reported on Tuesday this week that there were actually fewer than 100 available spaces left across the male prison estate in England and Wales.

Mr Davies explained: “There’s in excess of 800 spaces this morning, which is due to the large number of people who were released yesterday.”

He said that the riots across the country had put a “significant amount of pressure on the prison system”. “We anticipate that there will be some ongoing activity for a period of time going forward, but hopefully we are over that initial surge,” he added.

The measures announced by Ms Mahmood to release people early would have given the government around 18 months head room in the prison estate, the Prison Governors Association estimated. However, due to the unprecedented number of people jailed due to the riots, this has now been eroded.

“You’re probably looking at 12 months headroom now because of the unexpected surge in new people into the system,” Mr Davies said.

The prison population in England and Wales has been rising for much of the past three years, having dropped as low as 77,727 in April 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before the pandemic, the figure had been above 80,000 since December 2006.

In the aftermath of the summer 2011 riots, the number climbed as high as 88,179 on December 2 2011, before falling back in subsequent months.