Plaid Cymru AM Leanne Wood is backing a UK-wide campaign aimed at stemming the number of people sent to prison after it was revealed the numbers jailed in Wales have increased by 16 per cent since 2003.
The Valleys-based South Wales Central AM has signed the Howard League for Penal Reform online petition, Take Action 2010. It aims to stop the relentless rise in the prison population and urges political parties to place more investment in communities to prevent the underlying causes of crime. Celebrities including Danniella Westbrook, Prunella Scales and Emma Freud have already backed the campaign.
According to official figures the Welsh prison population has grown from 2,409 in 2003 to 2,789 in 2009, although it fell slightly from 2008 when the figure was 2,814.
Parc’s prison population rose by 18 per cent between 2003 and 2008 before a one per cent decrease in 2009, leaving it with a population of 1,182. Cardiff’s figure rose every year between 2003 and 2009 from 641 to 797 – a 24 per cent hike. There were also increases in Swansea from 359 to 394 and in Usk/Prescoed from 397 to 416.
In 2009 , the prison population in Wales was 98 per cent of operational capacity which is the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold taking into account control, security and operation of the planned regime which is said to be determined by area managers on the basis of operational judgement and experience.
HM Prison Service’s measure of uncrowded capacity which represents the standard of accommodation that the service aspires to provide all prisons is known as the In Use Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA).
Swansea Prison was the most overcrowded, with its population taking up 171 per cent of its ‘In Use CNA’. Prescoed was the least crowded prison in 2009, using 98 per cent of its ‘In Use CNA’and filling 91 per cent of its operational capacity. Cardiff Prison’s ‘In Use CNA’ rose 29 per cent between 2003 and 2005, but increased five per cent between
2005 and 2009, leaving its population to ‘In Use CNA’ at 145 per cent. Parc Prison’s ‘In Use CNA’ had the smallest growth between 2003 and 2009 at just over 1 per cent but was still 141 per cent.
Leanne Wood, who is a former probation officer and is campaigning for criminal justice services to be devolved to Wales, said:
“The rise in the prison population in Wales is very high and it’s likely to continue growing with spending cuts on the way.
“There are already plans in place to slash the probation budget. Services are ending contracts for newly qualified staff, which could result in expensively trained people being lost to the profession, which does not bode well for the future of successful community based rehabilitation in the long term.
“Also, the end to the early release scheme for political reasons – Labour not wanting to be open to attack from the Tories in run up to the general election – can only risk further increasing the prison population.
“The prison situation strengthens my call for criminal justice, including the prison service to be devolved to Wales”, added Leanne, whose policy document Making Our Communities Safer was published in 2008.
