More cells being built within prisons to help tackle overcrowding

The government is spending £110m on creating more cells in existing prisons in England and Wales as part of its plans to tackle overcrowding. The money, which has been "fast-tracked from existing budgets", will be used to speed up the construction of hundreds of new prison places, the Ministry of Justice has said.Existing space within prisons, such as unused office space, laundry rooms and storage areas, will be converted into cells.The announcement comes at a time of crisis for the prison system, which is close to maximum capacity, with the government being criticised for its handling of an early release scheme. Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Alex Norris said the government would be "getting spades in the ground quicker to deliver thousands more places to lock up dangerous criminals and keep the public safe".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."Investment to create more prison spaces was announced as part of the government's 2025 spending review, which covered plans for the period from 2024‑25 to 2029‑30. As part of this, it allocated a £7bn capital investment to create 14,000 prison places by 2031. The £110m announced on Monday is not a new investment, and is being drawn from money previously announced. The Lord Chancellor will update Parliament on Tuesday, setting out changes to upcoming sentencing reforms which will block hundreds more dangerous offenders from earlier release.Measures also include plans to remove foreign national offenders more quickly, and ending the historic injustice of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in a way that balances fairness and public safety, the government has said.Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said: "It is absurd for Labour to talk about a 'prison building boom' when there are 700 fewer prison places than a year ago."In a matter of weeks thousands of dangerous criminals will be released onto our streets thanks to Andy Burnham, including perpetrators of some of the most vile crimes."An extra £18.9m investment into vital services for victims will also be announced to Parliament. The services will provide the specialist emotional and practical support needed to help victims move on with their lives, according to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). This money will be reprioritised from existing budgets and will be on top of the £550m already announced by government for this support. The MoJ also announced that it had signed a contract to start building a new jail for 1,700 hundred inmates in Lancashire.On Monday, the Conservatives warned that dangerous criminals could be freed under the government's early release scheme, which aims to reduce overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said at the weekend that anyone convicted of manslaughter would be excluded from the early prisoner release scheme, following a campaign from PC Andrew Harper's family to block the release of two men convicted over his killing in 2019.Burnham said prison space would be found by releasing some inmates serving IPPs as well as by deporting foreign prisoners.Some 4,500 prisoners are now expected to start being released in tranches from October.The numbers due to be released has been reduced after the government said rapists, those found guilty of serious child sex offences and grooming offences and now those found guilty of manslaughter would be excluded from the scheme.Timothy told the BBC that to prevent one group of dangerous criminals being released early, Burnham was "looking at releasing a different group of dangerous prisoners".Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones told the BBC: "We will do nothing that would risk the public or put the public at danger."