Prison overcrowding: ‘Too many’ inmates in a third of jails

It comes after a recent prison population bulletin from the Ministry of Justice confirmed that last month prisons in Britain were a whopping 13,076 prisoners over capacity.

The figures show Shropshire's only prison, at Stoke Heath near Market Drayton, is running at near capacity – 98 per cent.

The prison has an operational capacity of 782, and as of July it housed 765 prisoners.

Security experts Locksmithservice.co.uk have examined the monthly prison population bulletin from the MoJ alongside investigative research on the issue of prison overcrowding, to reveal where the busiest jails are found and what impact this is having.

Locksmithservice.co.uk has used the MoJs definition of ‘overcrowding’, which is outlined as “where operational capacity of a prison is higher than the Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA)”.

It found the population of prisons in England and Wales has increased by 90 per cent in the years between 1991, where there were a recorded 45,000 prisoners, to 2016 where the population of prisoners hit over 85,000.

2011 saw a record number of prisoners, of around 88,000, due to the sentencing of individuals following the August riots that took place in England that year.

Of those 85,000 prisoners recorded in 2016/2017, 24.5 per cent, or almost one quarter, were held in crowded conditions due to a lack of space in the prison system.

Since 2011, 18 prisons have been shut due to expensive upkeep, creating increasing pressure on existing prisons.

Comparing prison population bulletins from 2017 and 2010, there has been a seven per cent increase in surplus prisoners, and England and Wales currently have a total of 13,076 extra prisoners. This has caused 100 per cent of prisons in these areas to be either at capacity or overcrowded.

The situation currently stands as 24 per cent of prisons being already at capacity, and 76 per cent operating over capacity.

Locksmithservice revealed that more than one third of prisons in England and Wales exceed their recommended population by more than 100 prisoners, with just over one in 10 prisons operating at 300 prisoners over recommended capacity.

According to research, the population of prisons is projected to remain constant until at least March 2021.

According to another MoJ report on the history of prison population, the offence make-up of the prison population is changing, and is seeing more serious cases come before the courts, such as sexual offences or offences involving violence.

The MoJ has said it was investing money in building new prisons.