Justice Ministry Faces Jails Crisis As Home Office Splits In Two

Britain’s first Ministry of Justice emerges today out of the rubble of the “not fit for purpose” Home Office to face a mounting prison crisis with prisoner numbers in England and Wales hitting a new record.

The prison population, which is increasing by more than 200 a week, reached 80,674 on Monday night – just 400 short of total capacity. Lord Falconer, who is confirmed today as the first secretary of state for justice, is under increasing pressure to deal with the crisis.

The creation of the new ministry involves the transfer of 50,000 civil servants working in prisons and probation, criminal justice and sentencing from the Home Office to the new department. The slimmed-down Home Office also opens today, “more strongly focused” on terrorism, security, policing, drugs, immigration, ID cards and antisocial behaviour.

Penal reformers said last night the prison system was at “one minute to midnight” and reiterated the case for the use of the safety valve of “executive release” for petty offenders. But Lord Falconer, who has ruled out any immediate form of early release to ease prison overcrowding, may instead be forced to face down the refusal by the Prison Service to increase capacity by reintroducing “trebling” – the incarceration of three prisoners in a cell built for one.

The Home Office said yesterday the latest casualty of the overcrowding crisis was a plan to develop a dedicated regime for young adult prisoners aged 18 to 24. Ministers said the “constraints posed by current prison capacity” meant they had dropped plans to abolish the power of the courts to detain this age group in young offender institutions.

One of the last acts of the Department for Constitutional Affairs, which is swallowed up by the new Ministry of Justice, was to deny reports that Tony Blair had already vetoed sentencing proposals put forward by Lord Falconer to reduce the use of custody, including abolishing prison for shoplifters who steal less than £200 of goods.

Juliet Lyon, of the Prison Reform Trust, said that at the current accelerating rate of growth, the government had two weeks before jails and police cells were full to their limit. She said there had been three home secretaries in three years and an almost annual turnover in prison ministers since Labour came to power in 1997.

Lord Falconer, who is expected to be replaced by an MP when Gordon Brown becomes prime minister, has said the new ministry will provide an opportunity for a “more coherent” crime and justice policy.

Downing Street said last night that David Hanson would move from the Northern Ireland Office to the justice ministry as the minister of state, with Gerry Sutcliffe moving from the Home Office as his junior. The rest of the former DCA team will remain in their jobs, giving the new department seven ministers, compared with the Home Office’s six.

John Reid, the home secretary, has made it clear that the split in the Home Office is to be done without any extra money except for a £15m boost to counter-terrorism work.