Criminals have handed long penalties for serious violations, must be left early from prison to make room in prisons, the justice secretary has signaled.
Shabana Mahmood confirmed the reform of short prisoners 'not enough' to create space in overcrowded prisons.
Her comments open the prospect of perpetrators who handed long prison sentences – including violent perpetrators – get less prison as part of a conviction assessment launched by Labor last year.
At the official opening of a new prison of 1500 place in Yorkshire yesterday, this said, Mrs. Mahmood: 'One thing is clear, we are already more than 99 percent capacity back in the prison.
'So we are not going to achieve a position of sustainable prison capacity with only action on shorter sentences.
'Short sense of reform in itself will not be enough.
“We fill prison rooms as quickly as we can build them, and we already know that we cannot build our way out of this crisis.”
The comments from the justice secretary have the prospect of shorter prison sentence for violent criminals, armed robbers, large drug dealers and possibly even sex offenders and murderers.
Shabana Mahmood confirmed the reform of short prisoners 'not enough' to create space in overcrowded prisoners
The Justice Secretary (left) will be given a tour during the official opening of HMP Millsike – the new category C prison in Yorkshire that will deliver 1500 prison places
At the official opening, Mrs. Mahmood said: 'One thing is clear, we are already running more than 99 percent capacity back in the priestage'
Mrs. Mahmood is already forced to leave thousands of criminals out of prison early.
She claimed last fall that the legal system was close to a 'catastrophic' breakdown, so that the police would not be able to make arrests due to a lack of cells.
It led her to introduce emergency measures that released most criminals after they had only handed over 40 percent of the punishment by the courts.
On the first day of the early release schedule last September, there were pathogenic scenes of delays that celebrated outside the prison gates after they were released, with some popping champagne corks and posing with luxury cars.
One of the most important exclusions of that scheme, known as SDS40, are violent perpetrators who serve more than four years. These criteria can be detached if ministers decide to introduce even more generous discounts for criminals.
Former secretary of Tory Justice David Lauke, who was appointed by Mrs. Mahmood to lead the assessment of the conviction, said last week that 'controversial' changes' would be necessary to reduce prison numbers.
Mrs. Mahmood emphasized that she would not terminate the outcome of Mr Gauke's report in advance and it was 'probably' that all changes would need legislation, which means that they would be investigated by parliament.
“There will be full transparency about my own decisions as soon as the assessment has reported,” she said.
Former secretary of Tory Justice David Lawke (photo), who has been appointed by Mrs. Mahmood to lead the conviction review, said last week that 'controversial' changes' would be necessary to reduce prison numbers
Mrs. Mahmood emphasized that she would not terminate the outcome of Mr Gauke's report in advance and it was 'probably' that changes would need legislation, which means that they would be investigated by parliament
Mr. Gauke told a podcast last week by the University of Law: “If we make a considerable difference … we have to look at those who sit out relatively long penalties.”
He added: 'There is no appealing that almost all the proposals we make in this area that are effective in terms of controlling the prison population will have opposition.
“They will be controversial. They will be difficult. But it is still necessary. '
Murderers are excluded from the scope of Mr Lawke's assessment, but his comments suggested that he may look at an important reform of penalties that are handed over to violent criminals, including murderers who have been convicted of manslaughter.
He was appointed by Mrs. Mahmood to “explore harder penalties outside prison,” including house arrest, and will publish his final report in the spring.
Mrs. Mahmood also confirmed that she was 'particularly interested' in a schedule introduced in Texas in 2007 with which prisoners can earn time for good behavior.
She traveled to the United States last month to see it in operation and was able to launch a similar program here.
The £ 400 million HMP Millsike in Full Sutton, near York, was opened yesterday (Thu) and will accept its first prisoners next month.
The comments from the justice secretary have the prospect of shorter prison sentence for violent criminals, armed robbers, large drug dealers and possibly even sex offenders and murderers raised
Cell windows in the new category C Medium Security Jail have no bars, while windows in other parts of the building have horizontal beams that are designed to resemble shutters.
The prison also has a specially designed color scheme with autumn and pastel shades on the walls, with some splashes of bright colors such as purple furniture and orange celles.
Officials said the design was intended to make the building feel 'less like a prison'.
Millsike also has eight large workshops where prisoners can learn skills, including how they can become a coffee barista.
There are also courses in commercial cleaning, construction trade, hairdressers and waste management.
