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Prisoners could be sent to Estonia to help alleviate overcrowding in England’s jails, it was revealed on Friday.
The move is one of a number of options being considered to address the crisis - which has seen prison populations reach record levels - according to reports.
The number of inmates in jails in England and Wales hit a new high of 88,521 on Thursday, up 171 from 88,350 a week ago - the previous record - and a jump of 1,025 from 87,496 four weeks ago.
The prison population in England and Wales has been increasing 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.
Dame Angela Eagle, a minister in the Home Office, did not rule out sending prisoners to the Baltic state when asked on Sky News whether the Government was considering renting cells in Estonia. She said the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is likely to be “considering anything”.
“The last government closed loads of prison places and didn’t replace any of them, so I think that colleagues in the MoJ will be considering anything that they can to alleviate the problem,” she said.
“What we cannot have is people who are convicted of perhaps violent or serious crimes not being able to be in jail.”
She added: “I’m sure that colleagues are considering all sorts of actions to deal with the crisis that we’ve been left by the previous government in prison places and the prison service, and the criminal justice system generally.”
It came as judges called for a reversal of the trend that has seen custodial sentences lengthened, as they said the prison system is “not working properly”.
More than 5,000 prisoners are due to be released earlier than planned in coming weeks to help alleviate pressure on the prison system in across England and Wales, which has as few as 1,000 spaces left.
The prison population of England and Wales has hit a record high, with the number jumping by nearly a thousand in four weeks to 88,350 on August 30.
The sharp rise in 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.
Some of England and Wales’ top former judges have written to the government urging it to end “sentence inflation” - a trend that has seen prison sentences lengthened significantly in recent years.
Among them is former Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, who told Sky News the trend should be reversed to restore “a proper sense of proportion” and to allow prisons to function properly.
“We have increased the prison population, and it is promised to increase by a very substantial proportion over the next few years,” he said. “We need to stand back and work out - are we using our resources properly?
“We think there is an urgent need for a review of what has happened over the last 20 years, to get everything back to a proper sense of proportion.
“We have been changing sentencing legislation on and off over the last 15 to 20 years without really looking at the effect as a whole.
“For example, the sentences for murder were significantly increased, people have been required to spend longer of the sentence in prison. All of these have a cumulative or other effect, and you need to stand back and ask yourselves, have we got the resources balanced correctly?”
He said there is “not that much evidence” that longer sentences are having a deterrent effect on offenders.
“Secondly, if you have prisons that are overcrowded, they cannot be used and cannot function as intended, namely to provide places of rehabilitation,” he added.
“And so we have a system that is, as a result of what has happened, not working properly.”
In an effort to free up space in UK prisons, the Government has introduced an early release scheme which will see thousands of prisoners released after serving 40 per cent of their sentence.An estimated 5,500 offenders are expected to be released earlier than was planned in the coming weeks under the Government’s temporary measures to ease overcrowding.
The scheme will not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences.
The Government has said that those who are released will serve the rest of their sentence under strict licensing conditions.
Last week, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke described the lack of prison places as a “nightmare”.
“It is a nightmare,” he told The Sunday Telegraph. “There’s no easy option because there are not enough prison spaces.
“The Government had no choice other than to release people early, but it does put a strain on the rest of the system, because probation are understaffed and underfunded.”
“The entire criminal justice system is dysfunctional, undoubtedly dysfunctional,” he added.
Speaking on a trip to Berlin last week, Sir Keir Starmer said more prisons will be built once the Government has got its “hands on the planning laws”.
“We’ve got to change the planning regulation so we can build the prisons we need, because they’re taking far too long, it’s far too slow, and that’s amongst the reasons we’re in the position we are,” said the Prime Minister.
“And, as you’d expect from an ex-chief prosecutor, people do need to go to prison, and they need to know that the law is effective.
“We need to build those prisons, and we will get our hands on the planning laws in order to do so.”
