Member

However, the measure that I have set out today does not end the prison crisis or provide a long-term solution. It buys us time to take further measures to address prison capacity, not just now but in the future. Later this year we will publish a 10-year capacity strategy outlining the steps the Government will take to acquire land for new prison sites. It will ensure that building prisons deemed to be of national importance is a decision that is placed in the Minister’s hands. We must also drive down reoffending, which I am personally committed to achieving. A stronger Probation Service will be crucial to that, and we will start by recruiting at least 1,000 new trainee probation officers by the end of March 2025, bringing forward an existing commitment to address the challenges more quickly. We will also work with prisons to ensure that offenders can get the skills they need to contribute to society on their release, as well as bringing together prison governors, local employers and the voluntary sector to help them into work, because we know—and I have seen first-hand—that having a job makes offenders less likely to reoffend.