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So where will they go?

(205 Posts)
Mollygo Mon 09-Sept-24 13:58:02

We already have a housing shortage, people sleeping on the streets, people living in substandard accommodation and the eternal issue of housing asylum seekers.
Now they are going to release large numbers of prisoners early to ease the shortage of prison spaces.
On the news just now, prisoners were saying that sometimes, the only option to living on the street is to get back inside and probation officers were expressing the same concern, in addition to the fact that some landlords won’t let to ex prisoners.
It looks like an insurmountable problem.
What do GNs suggest.

Casdon Tue 10-Sept-24 17:54:06

ronib

Casdon okay sorry I am having a bit of a temper tantrum about Starmer and the voting today.
I would be inclined to try and arrange some kind of personal support from family and friends for each released person. I would encourage this supportive relationship from the beginning of the sentence if possible. Obviously some crimes won’t fit that category. It’s a group effort I think to help through a crisis. Does this make sense?

I agree with that ronib, but it isn’t going to mitigate the current crisis unfortunately, there isn’t an immediate golden bullet as far as I can see. The prisoners being released now are the same people that the Tories were planning to release, because this has been in the pipeline for months. Their timetable was also September, but what hadn’t happened was the release of funding for additional probation officers apparently, and that is a critical pressure area now. I believe one of the new prisons is due to open next year, and until then things aren’t going to get much easier except through the appointment of more staff to manage the existing systems. What a mess.

eazybee Tue 10-Sept-24 17:45:44

I think you will find the previous government was considering some early releases but was also considering where all these released prisoners should go, and until they could provide somewhere they would not release them.
The present government's solution is to turn them out on the streets with no support whatsoever. I have no solution to offer, other than more stringent punishment lower down the scale, before prison is the only option. This is a long term problem and needs serious thought, not a knee jerk reaction.
Possibly the money saved from the winter fuel allowance could have been used towards this rather than going into the pockets of train drivers and junior doctors. There is no justification for these pay rises whatsoever.
All the problems facing this government, were facing the last government, and Labour is discovering very quickly that instant solutions are not easily available. And it is not any government that creates underclasses, it is people themselves.

ronib Tue 10-Sept-24 17:30:25

Casdon okay sorry I am having a bit of a temper tantrum about Starmer and the voting today.
I would be inclined to try and arrange some kind of personal support from family and friends for each released person. I would encourage this supportive relationship from the beginning of the sentence if possible. Obviously some crimes won’t fit that category. It’s a group effort I think to help through a crisis. Does this make sense?

Mt61 Tue 10-Sept-24 17:18:08

Hotels, I’ve heard

Casdon Tue 10-Sept-24 17:10:38

ronib

Casdon maybe ask Jeremy Corbyn - he is the only MP with a backbone ?
Also more fundamentally it is for the government to stop creating underclasses. Some people will always have a head start in life and others will always struggle. We need to be much more proactive in creating opportunities across the class divide.

I am asking you personally ronib what you would do at this juncture about prison overcrowding - not in the future, but now. I want to understand your solutions because nobody else has any, other than releasing prisoners now to free up spaces. NB Jeremy Corbyn has no influence in parliament.

Mollygo Tue 10-Sept-24 17:08:31

HPQ
I expect you believed Johnson when he promised the 40 new hospitals.

🤣🤣🤣

We keep getting these unverifiable assumptions from those desperate to defend KS and the LP.

Not having confidence in Starmer, does not necessarily mean you had confidence in the previous government OR that you necessarily voted for them.

MayBee70 Tue 10-Sept-24 16:47:52

ronib

Casdon maybe ask Jeremy Corbyn - he is the only MP with a backbone ?
Also more fundamentally it is for the government to stop creating underclasses. Some people will always have a head start in life and others will always struggle. We need to be much more proactive in creating opportunities across the class divide.

Well, if he hadn’t’ve lost two elections he could have been doing all that, couldn’t he?

MayBee70 Tue 10-Sept-24 16:46:05

Gummie

What is the point in having a police force or a justice system if they are just let them out early, are given money, some even being housed in hotels at tax payers expense. We've seen the videos of some of the low life scum they have let out today. It's sickening.

I'm disgusted at Starmer and his ridiculous excuses for doing this. Have they broken any ground to build any more prisons since being in office? No of course not, just blame the previous government and let dangerous vile people out of prison.

Law and order no longer exists in this country and the politicians of all parties are to blame. But the sitting PM has done it and he will forever be the PM that let down law abiding citizens. He should hang his head in shame.

I feel sick for all the women and children who might now be in danger again as they've let horribly dangerous people out again.

I don't care if the conditions in prison were awful, build some more or float some more prison ships. I care more about the people of this country who don't commit crimes.

I think you’ll find that, when Rory Stewart was prisons minister he was arguing for pretty similar measures?

4allweknow Tue 10-Sept-24 16:43:15

It's amazing that to accommodate new prisoners some nearly new ones are being released. Support services are already struggling yet almost overnight there is supposed to be enough staff. Why not use the old barge used for asylum seekers? One issue was that they felt locked up, should be fine for prisoners.

ronib Tue 10-Sept-24 16:33:22

Casdon maybe ask Jeremy Corbyn - he is the only MP with a backbone ?
Also more fundamentally it is for the government to stop creating underclasses. Some people will always have a head start in life and others will always struggle. We need to be much more proactive in creating opportunities across the class divide.

HousePlantQueen Tue 10-Sept-24 16:13:21

I'm disgusted at Starmer and his ridiculous excuses for doing this. Have they broken any ground to build any more prisons since being in office? No of course not, just blame the previous government and let dangerous vile people out of prison

Give me strength.......

I expect you believed Johnson when he promised the 40 new hospitals.

HousePlantQueen Tue 10-Sept-24 16:07:55

Iam64

The riots occurred weeks after the election. The prisons were already overcrowded. Prison staff inexperienced as more expensive long serving officers went with austerity. The previous government were well aware of the timber box brewing but did no more than talk about building more prisons. No plans to improve the Probation Service it destroyed. No plans for extending community punishments

The rioters imprisoned committed some very serious offences. In all the circumstances, it’s likely there will be some problems. The government will be well aware of this.

Thank you for your clear, concise, non hysterical analysis of the situation. Last night on Newsnight (I think), a previous Conservative MP was asking, persistently, why the new Labour government hadn't built any prisons! I know they are streamlining and speeding up the planning process, but building the much needed extra prison space, since July? I think not.

Casdon Tue 10-Sept-24 16:07:52

ronib

We are living in very surreal times Casdon and it’s getting more surreal with every day.

Okay ronib you tell us what you would specifically do to resolve this isssue, given that governments of all hues have been unable to come up with any other way forward? I’m longing to hear what previously not considered and dismissed plans you have. If you can do it without obfuscation that would be really good.

HousePlantQueen Tue 10-Sept-24 16:02:29

eggplant

Can you put in prison for waving a flag? That seems a waste of rescources.

No, you can't

grannybuy Tue 10-Sept-24 16:00:02

Re exclusion in schools - I was a voluntary mentor to pupils in secondary schools for a while. The pupils had varying difficulties, problems etc, including exclusions. The scheme is a charity, but the local council provided some funding, which helped to employ a paid coordinator in each school. Unfortunately, a year ago, the council withdrew much of their support which resulted in the number of schools involved was greatly reduced. Many similar schemes could be introduced for school pupils, those guilty of minor crimes and also to give support to those with mental health problems, but without funding they can’t get off the ground, or sustained. Same old story.

ronib Tue 10-Sept-24 15:54:19

We are living in very surreal times Casdon and it’s getting more surreal with every day.

Casdon Tue 10-Sept-24 15:52:16

This is a surreal thread. People seem very naive about what facilities are required for prisons, how they could be staffed and how many spaces short the system actually is. Doesn’t the fact that the Tories were already planning to do this before the election tell you that it’s desperate times. There are more prison places planned and being built, but too late.
www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/29/plan-for-20000-more-prison-places-in-england-and-wales-wont-be-complete-until-2030

Gummie Tue 10-Sept-24 15:43:32

What is the point in having a police force or a justice system if they are just let them out early, are given money, some even being housed in hotels at tax payers expense. We've seen the videos of some of the low life scum they have let out today. It's sickening.

I'm disgusted at Starmer and his ridiculous excuses for doing this. Have they broken any ground to build any more prisons since being in office? No of course not, just blame the previous government and let dangerous vile people out of prison.

Law and order no longer exists in this country and the politicians of all parties are to blame. But the sitting PM has done it and he will forever be the PM that let down law abiding citizens. He should hang his head in shame.

I feel sick for all the women and children who might now be in danger again as they've let horribly dangerous people out again.

I don't care if the conditions in prison were awful, build some more or float some more prison ships. I care more about the people of this country who don't commit crimes.

Greciangirl Tue 10-Sept-24 15:37:07

This is not a very optimistic thread is it?

Scaremongering as usual.

Lock up your daughters, why don’t you?

JennyCee Tue 10-Sept-24 15:34:23

I dont know about the Army or the Royal Navy, but there are quite a few ex RAF bases which could be used, and in fact were being muted for the immigrants piling in.

TiggyW Tue 10-Sept-24 15:20:08

I understood that murderers were not eligible for early release?🤔
Prisoners who are given early release could be given the option of joining the armed forces, thereby ensuring their accommodation.

Wyllow3 Tue 10-Sept-24 14:22:32

There are 2 schemes as regards sending back to country of origin
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2024-0023/#:~:text=Foreign%20national%20offenders%20can%20be,through%20the%20Facilitated%20Return%20Scheme.
Feb 2024.

Googling quickly shows these schemes are very under used but also very complex, expensive and time consuming.

petra Tue 10-Sept-24 14:01:40

Foreign prisoners make up roughly 12 % of the prison population.

essjay Tue 10-Sept-24 13:47:05

maybe not all, but a fair amount is and a lot is because we let it happen.

MayBee70 Tue 10-Sept-24 13:41:35

Oh for heavens sake. Every single problem this country faces is not because of foreigners.