Prisons: Devolve justice to help overcrowding, says MP

Prisons in Wales are overcrowded and need a "complete overhaul", an MP has told UK ministers.

Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader, Liz Saville-Roberts, told MPs justice should be devolved to Wales.

She said other problems included drug use and failures to provide prisoners with basic medical care.

The UK government said Welsh prisons were performing well and that it was taking action to ease pressure in England and Wales.

Leading a Commons debate on the issue on Wednesday, Ms Saville-Roberts: "The average number of people held in the Welsh prison estate - that is, the five prisons of Berwyn, Cardiff, Parc, Swansea and, considered together, Usk and Prescoed - surpassed 5,000 for the first time in 2022.

"Berwyn almost surpassed 2,000 for the first time, and answers to my written parliamentary questions show that 2,000 is Berwyn's operational capacity."

The MP said overcrowding brought safety concerns, "including problems relating to prescription and illicit drugs, and failures to provide basic medical care".

She added staff retention was a "significant problem" for HMP Berwyn, in Wrexham, with staff from other prisons being brought in to make up for shortfalls.

"Staff also complain of an experience gap, because more experienced staff are exhausted and burnt out."

The MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd said there was also a link between incarceration and homelessness that was "difficult to justify".

"Almost a third of prisoners arriving in HMP Swansea in 2022 were homeless. Given that homeless ex-prisoners are significantly more likely to reoffend than those in housing, that cycle urgently needs to be broken."

She argued that devolving the justice system to Cardiff Bay would allow structural issues to be addressed in Wales.

"The England and Wales structure is an anomaly when we compare it with the way in which justice is done, not just in Northern Ireland and Scotland, but in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. For some reason, Wales is seen as unfit to do similar," she said.

It follows the publication of a report by Cardiff University's Wales Governance Centre earlier this month, which found that the Welsh imprisonment rate continues to surpass the rate recorded in any other part of the UK.

The UK government's prisons minister Edward Argar said Welsh prisons had strong performance ratings.

Mr Argar said HMP Berwyn, the largest prison in Wales, did not have any prisoners held in crowded accommodation.

"We do recognise, however, that in line with the current pressures across our entire adult male custodial estate, there are relatively high levels of crowding in some Welsh prisons, though that is not specific or unique to Wales," he added.

He said the UK government was taking "decisive action" to alleviate overcrowding as well as implementing measures to improve prison safety.

The Ministry of Justice said the UK government was "embarking on the biggest prison-expansion programme since the Victorian era - creating an additional 20,000 modern places to rehabilitate offenders and cut crime".

"The Welsh public prison workforce grew by nearly 100 officers in the year to 30 September 2023," the spokesperson added.