We have a prison capacity crisis. But for emergency measures taken in the autumn, demand for places would have already exceeded supply. Even with these emergency measures, Ministry of Justice forecasts show capacity being breached in spring 2026. In that context, the MoJ commissioned an Independent Sentencing Review, which I chair, to address the crisis.
We will set out our recommendations in the spring, but before doing so, it is important to understand how we got here. An interim report, published on 18 February, sets out the reasons why our prison population has grown so dramatically – effectively doubling in the last 30 years – and why it is forecast to continue to rise.
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