Prison staff told not to use inadequate cells as overcrowding worsens

One prison staffer said: “We don’t have enough staff to monitor the extra prisoners. We don’t have the infrastructure to house the additional prisoners. So those who make the decisions need to abide by the law or they’re the ones who have to justify why they’re making governors take all these people”.

The male adult prison estate is at 98.5% capacity, with some staff claiming they have just a handful of spaces remaining.

Prison sources say there are just over 1,200 spaces remaining across the adult male estate – which currently has a total population of around 83,400.

Some prisons hold more than 1,000 inmates – like large Victorian jails. Others can be smaller with a more concentrated population in the low hundreds.

Former prison governor John Podmore said it was “fundamentally unfair” governors were having to deal with a penal crisis they didn’t create.

“The public may have little sympathy for prisoners, but that doesn’t alter the reality. You can put a second bed in a cell and call it capacity but that doesn’t make it sensible or safe.

“Meanwhile, the system is quietly putting thousands back into prison through recall. If ministers want more space, they should look at why the revolving door is getting faster, rather than simply squeezing two people into a cell built for one.”