Employees at Pentonville spoke to the difficulties they\u2019re experiencing. A prison officer spoke to us on the condition that we keep her identity anonymous. \u201cYou worry about, you know, opening the door in the morning and making sure that they\u2019re alive,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
The prison population in England and Wales is now more than 88,000, nearly double what it was 30 years ago. One major factor is longer sentences \u2014 in 2023, the average prison sentence was 25% longer than it was in 2012. For crimes like robbery, sentences have increased by as much as 36%.<\/p>\n
Mark Fairhurst is the national chairman of the U.K.\u2019s Prison Officers\u2019 Association, or POA. British prisons have suffered because of a lack of investment, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cMany of our inner-city prisons are Victorian prisons, and they\u2019ve never been modernized,\u201d said Fairhurst. \u201cWe want a modern prison service. We don\u2019t want prisoners sharing cells. We want separate toilet areas so they don\u2019t have to share the toilet as they currently do, sat behind a screen. There is no dignity in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Pigeons](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/e84ae8-2024-09-gettyimages-623337862-e1727263472954-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Pigeons roost atop a wall of London\u2019s Pentonville Prison, originally built in 1842.<\/p>\n
Ben Stansall\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Instead of putting more money into the system, the U.K. government is taking people out. In September, more than 1,700 prisoners were freed. This is part of a broader strategy that allows people to be released after serving 40% of their sentence, rather than the usual 50%.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo all in all, by the end of the year, because of these early release schemes, we will free up 5,500 prison spaces,\u201d added Fairhurst.<\/p>\n
This does not apply to those convicted of sexual violence or terrorism, but critics argue it is still a short-term fix for a larger problem.<\/p>\n
Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, thinks early releases should only be a temporary solution. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the government needs to do with as much urgency is to say, \u2018What are your plans for the medium and long term to reduce this demand coming into prison in the first place?’\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what needs to be addressed, because otherwise you\u2019re just buying yourself a little bit of time, and by next year, next summer, those spaces will fill up again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government has announced plans to increase prison capacity by 9,000 spaces by 2028, but the prison population is projected to rise by 19,000 in that same period, leaving a significant gap. Plus, non-essential maintenance work in prisons has stopped due to a lack of funding, and some prisoners are being kept in inadequate conditions, like overcrowded cells with broken facilities.<\/p>\n
With about 12% of the U.K.\u2019s prisoners housed in private prisons, would more private money in the system help fund it? Mark Fairhurst from the POA doesn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n