The Howard League for Penal Reform has responded to Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor’s, call for mental health assessments in police or court custody, published today. https://ow.ly/GFNy50Zwmi5
The Howard League
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"The changes announced [in the Sentencing Act Review] ease a little of the immediate political pressure on ministers, but do nothing to head off future challenges." Read our response to the government's announcement on the Sentencing Act Review: https://ow.ly/nasc50Zw2JG
The prison population rose this week and now stands at 86,495. This time last week there were 228 fewer people in prison. The prison estate should not hold more than 81,681 people, the population currently exceeds this level by 4,814. https://howardleague.org/prison-watch/
In summer heatwaves, prisoners are trapped in overheated cells with sealed windows, no fans and no cold water. Is this humane? https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbk6g9uo96U/
What should Andy Burnham do? Watch this video for five moves the Prime Minister could make to create space in the prison system in the short term, while plans to release thousands of people at an earlier point in their sentences remain on hold. https://www.instagram.com/thehowardleague/
Assaults, self-harm rates and self-inflicted deaths all went down in a year when the government took steps to reduce the prison population, official data published by the Ministry of Justice reveals. https://ow.ly/3JOg50ZuBEh
"There is no easy way to solve the prisons crisis – but this might help." Read our Chief Executive's suggestions for Andy Burnham's government: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/prison-overcrowding-crisis-release-scheme-ipp-b3022953.html?loginSuccessful=true
There is no easy way to solve the prisons crisis – but this might help
With British jails again on course to run out of space in a matter of months, thanks in part to the prime minister’s decision to pause his predecessor’s early release scheme, the time has come to address a sentencing issue that brings shame upon our legal system, says Andrea Coomber
independent.co.uk
This prison has the highest staff sickness rate in the country – and it means children as young as 15 are being locked up for hours on end. What do high sickness rates say about the demands being put on prison staff? https://www.instagram.com/thehowardleague/
The prison population rose this week and now stands at 86,267. This time last week there were 169 fewer people in prison. The prison estate should not hold more than 81,681 people the population currently exceeds this level by 4,586. https://howardleague.org/prison-watch/
"The elephant in the room is sentences keep getting longer, and some of the loudest critics of this scheme have been people who have campaigned for longer sentences, and this is the situation that that creates." Listen in full here: https://www.lbc.co.uk/videos/2JsSf2vn3y8/
"You don't come to terms with what happened until you start maturing." Transform Justice podcast about children serving life sentences, hearing from research consultant Dr Susie Hulley and Ryan, who was 15 when he was sentenced to serve a minimum of 16 years. 🎧http://pod.fo/e/4a3685
"Exploiting innocent grief and public outrage is not democracy. It is a threat to the rule of law, hence to us all." Libby Purves, in the Times, on the need to solve the prisons crisis: https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/fixing-prisons-top-priority-criminal-justice-system-d0nv00wp9
Fixing our prisons should be top priority
Criminal and justice system has long been prey to political opportunism — it’s no wonder that public confidence is low
thetimes.com
"More than 3/4 of us believe that sentencing...has become shorter in length, whereas the opposite is true. In other words, we’re not soft on offenders, but the public thinks we are." https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/law-and-order/74224/uk-prisons-overcrowded-james-timpson
We’re addicted to locking people up—but it doesn’t make us safer
Does Andy Burnham have the attention span, the will and the courage to tackle a collapsing justice system?
prospectmagazine.co.uk
Our Head of Communications, Rob Preece, spoke to Matthew Wright on LBC and suggested four other ways for Andy Burnham to find room in the prison system if he decides to scrap the early release scheme: https://www.lbc.co.uk/videos/2JsSf2vn3y8/
Is there any way to fix the prison crisis? | LBC
After Andy Burnham paused the early release scheme, Matthew Wright discusses the scale of the problem facing the prison system with Steve Gillan from the Prison Officers Association and Rob Preece from the Howard League for Penal Reform.
lbc.co.uk
Andy Burnham has paused a scheme that would have made thousands of people eligible for earlier release from prison. It’s the latest development in a crisis building for decades. Read our explainer to find out why prisons are overcrowded: https://howardleague.org/why-are-prisons-overcrowded/
Andy Burnham has paused a scheme that would have made thousands of people eligible for earlier release from prison. It’s the latest development in a crisis building for decades. Read our explainer to find out why prisons are overcrowded: https://howardleague.org/why-are-prisons-overcrowded/
The Howard League | Why are prisons overcrowded?
Why are prisons overcrowded? An expert summary by the Howard League for Penal Reform.
howardleague.org
“Andy Burnham’s pledge to review early release plans has created “a sense of chaos” across the Prison Service, probation officers have said.” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jul/23/burnham-review-of-prison-early-release-causing-chaos-union
"Burnham has announced that ending rough sleeping will be one of his government’s priorities, and any whole system approach to tackling this would recognise we currently tolerate many people being released from prison into homelessness." https://ow.ly/8cwF50Zrjnn
“We need this government to finally grapple with the fact that, for 20 years, politicians have allowed sentence inflation to run rampant. With longer and longer sentences, we are sleepwalking our way into US-style mass incarceration.” https://ow.ly/7fCw50ZrRcX
Every month, on average, there are 1,000 people sleeping rough on the first night after their release from prison. If Andy Burnham’s government is to achieve its goal to end rough sleeping, it will have to tackle the prisons crisis. www.instagram.com/thehowardlea...
15% of people who are meant wear tags don’t have one, Government admits. Our Chief Executive told Inside Time: "Now that the prison system is bursting at the seams, ministers are putting their faith in a flawed electronic monitoring programme": https://ow.ly/HmwE50ZnlL4
15% of people who are meant wear tags don’t have one, Government admits
The Government has said that 15 per cent of people who are meant to be wearing electronic tags do not have the equipment installed. The admission came as Whitehall’s public spending watchdog, the N…
ow.ly
Dr Helen Churcher responds to the news that prisoners who break rules can lose social visits: “Family and social visits are a fundamental right of people in prison, who retain the right to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights." https://ow.ly/MVej50Zrgfa
Prisoners who break rules can lose social visits
Prisoners who break prison rules can be punished with the loss of social visits, under a new law introduced by the Government. From 2 September, governors in England and Wales will be able to use t…
ow.ly
"There is a path to something more radical and interesting, if the Prime Minister is willing to take it." A blogpost by our Director of Campaigns, Andrew Neilson: https://howardleague.org/blog/how-andy-burnhams-government-could-find-a-more-lasting-solution-to-the-prisons-crisis/
“Inmates in some of the UK’s oldest prisons say they are no longer being punished but ‘tortured’ as they are locked in their baking cells for 22 hours a day in the heatwaves.” https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/10/prisoners-tortured-not-punished-small-cells-heatwave-29094219/
Prisoners are being 'tortured, not punished' in small cells during heatwave
Prisoners at HMP Chelmsford, built in 1825, say they were left on the brink of heat exhaustion in the latest heatwave which saw highs of 36C - the hottest June day on record.
metro.co.uk
"It doesn't realise the potential of a once-in-a-generation opportunity and the government has undoubtedly bottled that opportunity." Our Chief Executive, Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), spoke to BBC Radio 4 about the government's plans for sentencing reform. Skip to 28m50s: https://ow.ly/e9oQ50ZqKMY
The World Tonight - Iran buries Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - BBC Sounds
The burial of Ali Khamenei comes as fears grow of a return to full-scale conflict
ow.ly
“The Howard League said that unchecked prison overcrowding has led to ministers 'putting their faith in a flawed electronic monitoring programme that has expanded rapidly and is about to spread even wider.'” https://ow.ly/gKfb50ZnI2Y
Public safety at risk under government electronic tagging plans, spending watchdog says
THE public will be put at risk under government plans for a mass expansion of electronic monitoring to tackle prison overcrowding in England and Wales, Britain’s spending watchdog warned today.The National Audit Office (NAO) said that the system is already under significant strain and would need to be upgraded before it is extended.NAO chief Gareth Davies said: “Electronic monitoring is central to managing pressures on prisons, but it is not working effectively, creating risks to public protection.
ow.ly
The prison population rose this week and now stands at 86,098. This time last week there were 61 less people in prison. The prison estate should not hold more than 81,681 people, the population currently exceeds this level by 4,417. https://howardleague.org/prison-watch/
Look at this grim scene from a cell inside Woodhill, one of the worst prisons in England and Wales. Why are we wasting billions on building new jails instead of fixing the problems in the ones we already have? https://www.instagram.com/thehowardleague/
"More than one person dies every day in the year after leaving prison, a study has revealed, laying bare the lack of support for offenders after they are released." https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/prisoner-deaths-release-drugs-7xrw77dhz
Prisoner dies every day in the year after release, study reveals
A total of 2,447 people died within a year of leaving prison between 2019 and March 2025. About 40 per cent of deaths are drug related
thetimes.com