Nacro responds to the government’s discussions in a briefing today (15.05.2025) about plans to set a 28-day limit on prison sentences for people who are recalled and to build three new prisons.
Campbell Robb, CEO of Nacro, said:
“Nacro welcomes the government’s announcement that it is to take further action to ease the prison overcrowding crisis. According to the proposal set out today, the time that someone can be recalled to prison will be limited to a fixed 28 day period for people serving sentences of between one and four years.
Urgent action to ease prison overcrowding is vital, but the government must move beyond stopgap fixes to long-term solutions in order to avoid future crises. Recalling someone to prison for 28 days can still derail a person’s life; leading them to lose their job, their home and ties to family and community – all foundational blocks that reduce the likelihood that they will go on to commit further offences. Whilst 28 days in prison can be significant enough to undermine people’s reintegration into the wider world after prison, it simply is not enough time for people to engage in vital rehabilitative work happening in prison that supports people to tackle the root causes of their offending.
The government has also today announced plans to build three new prisons. We have heard time and time again that we cannot build our way out of this crisis. New prisons should be built exclusively to replace antiquated, overcrowded and dilapidated cells no longer fit for purpose and not as a means to expand the existing estate. Our criminal justice system and our communities are better served by investing in early intervention so that people don’t get caught up in the system in the first place and community sentences which provide people with support for the issues that we know drive much offending – substance misuse, mental health issues and homelessness. This will help to free up capacity in the prison system so that the people who we need to send to prison can get the support they need to be rehabilitated.”
Notes to Editors