The United Kingdom is to build four extra prisons to create 6,500 extra cells. The prisons are currently overcrowded, which has resulted in hundreds of convicts being released early this year.
Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood presented a ten-year plan on Wednesday to solve the crisis. The four extra prisons are due to be completed by 2031 and an additional 7,500 places must also be created in existing prisons. The plans are estimated to cost around 10 billion pounds.
However, Mahmood warns that the extra places may not be enough.
“We are going to build, but the sad situation is that we cannot build enough to keep up with the very, very rapidly increasing demand.” She blames previous Conservative governments for failing to deliver on their promises to build additional cells.