‘No final decision’ on plans for prisoners to share temporary cells

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According to leaked emails, plans have been drawn up to install second beds in rapid deployment cells.

The purpose-built, steel-framed cells are designed specifically for prisons, and assessments are underway to see whether some could hold two prisoners.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “As the public would expect, we’re pulling every lever available to ensure there is always space to lock up dangerous offenders.

“Cells are only doubled up where it is safe to do so, and no final decision has been taken on these units.”

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According to reports in the Guardian, it is thought the move would increase the capacity of prisons by 476.

The plans, revealed in a letter to governors from a senior Prison Service official, cover 10 category C prisons in England.

Andrea Coomber, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said prisons were “under intolerable pressure” and called on the Government to introduce “sensible steps to reduce the prison population safely”.

She said: “This is the latest in a series of acts of desperation that reveal how serious the prison capacity crisis has become.

“Rapid deployment cells were themselves meant to be a short-term response but, ironically, they have come to be seen as being among the more positive parts of the prison estate – particularly when used as enhanced wings, with fewer issues related to violence, debt and drug misuse.

“The risk now is that all this will be undermined as more and more people get crammed in.”

Earlier this month, Justice Secretary Alex Norris set out plans to speed up the building of new prison places as part of the Government’s efforts to tackle overcrowding in the prison estate.

Justice Secretary Mr Norris said: “This Government is serious about fixing the broken prison system we inherited, which is why we’ve already delivered more than 3,200 prison places in just two years.

“We’re now investing to boost these efforts further – getting spades in the ground quicker to deliver thousands more places to lock up dangerous criminals and keep the public safe.”

Extra space in prisons is also set to be created by deporting foreign prisoners and releasing inmates who are serving indefinite sentences under imprisonment for public protection sentences (IPPs).

But the changes to IPPs could take years to implement and will not be part of the initial measures to ease overcrowding.