Prisons and sentencing

What positions have MPs and peers taken on prison capacity and sentencing over the past twelve months?

A briefing written by AI (Claude) from the Hansard records cited below, prepared 27 October 2026 from records up to 26 October 2026. Check the sources before relying on it.

In brief

Government ministers presented the Sentencing Act and prison building as a joint answer to capacity, as when Lord Lemos said "we cannot build our way out of this capacity challenge, though build we must."
Conservative and Liberal Democrat peers and MPs criticised the reforms from opposite directions, as when Lord Sandhurst called the Bill "a plan to release offenders early because our prisons are full" and Lord Marks said "more prison is not the answer."
Committee chairs and crossbenchers focused on probation and rehabilitation capacity, as when Lord Foster said "the total increase in the number of probation staff has been 11."
Committee witnesses described the reforms as having an early effect, as when Dr Jo Farrar said "We are cautiously optimistic."

Government ministers – supportive

Ministers defended the combined approach, as when Lord Lemos said "we cannot build our way out of this capacity challenge, though build we must." [Source 1]

Catherine Atkinson, Justice Under-Secretary, said the Conservatives added just 482 prison places in office, and that this Government is embarking on the largest prison-building programme since the Victorian era. [Source 2]
Jake Richards, in a written statement of 29 January 2026, said "prison building alone is not enough" [Source 3] because the population was projected to rise by an average of 3,000 annually.

Conservatives – critical

Conservatives argued the reforms put the public at risk, as when Lord Sandhurst said the Bill is "in essence, a plan to release offenders early because our prisons are full." [Source 20]

Esther McVey, MP for Tatton, said "any 'get out of jail free' card under this Bill is one too many." [Source 24]
John Cooper, MP for Dumfries and Galloway, said on 7 July 2026 "Prison works. We should use it, and sentences should be served in full." [Source 16]
Lord Farmer, a Conservative backbencher, took a different line: moving the release point from 50% to 40% and now 33% means "sentencing is becoming increasingly meaningless" [Source 15], and he argued capacity had taken attention away from rehabilitation. [Source 15]

Liberal Democrats – supportive, with resourcing worries

Liberal Democrats backed shorter custody but pressed on funding, as when Lord Marks said the extra £700 million for probation "may not cover" the extra work, and asked what contingency plans exist. [Source 10]

Jessica Brown-Fuller, MP for Chichester, welcomed the presumption against short sentences. [Source 6]
She also asked how the Government expects to reduce reoffending "while prison boards are being forced to make dramatic cuts to education budgets." [Source 6]

Labour and committee chairs – supportive but pressing on delivery

Andrew Slaughter, Justice Committee Chair, said the probation system "has been running hot for an unsustainable period." [Source 8]

Lord Foster, Chair of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee, said more people were recalled than released for the first time in the first quarter of this year. [Source 4]
Amanda Martin, Labour MP for Portsmouth North, said "We cannot just build our way out of a Tory prison crisis." [Source 18]

Committee witnesses – cautiously confident

Dr Jo Farrar, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, told the Justice Committee on 28 April 2026 "We are cautiously optimistic." [Source 27]

James McEwen, CEO of HMPPS, told the Justice and Home Affairs Committee "In the 2030s, the prison population will be over 90,000." [Source 26]

Northern Ireland Assembly

Naomi Long (Alliance), speaking in the Northern Ireland Assembly on a devolved bill, noted it is unusual for the Department of Justice to legislate on road traffic offences. [Source 25]

About the evidence: The records cover October 2025 to September 2026 and contain no division records. Each group rests on a few speakers. The Northern Ireland Assembly decides many justice matters for Northern Ireland, and its contribution is not a view of the UK Parliament. Committee witnesses speak for themselves, not for Parliament.

Prisons and sentencing

Sources