Fast-track removals of foreign criminals are expected to be pledged in the King’s Speech on Wednesday as part of efforts to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis.
Ministers are to review proposals to reduce the number of foreign offenders held in jails in England and Wales in order to free up as many as 10,000 places to ease shortages.
Options could include more prisoner transfer deals where offenders are deported to serve their sentences in their home countries, early removals of criminals before they have fully completed their sentences, and expelling lower level offenders from the UK.
There were 10,422 foreign nationals in jails in England and Wales at the end of March this year, up from 10,148 at the same point last year.
That represents around 12 per cent of all prisoners with each costing the taxpayer £47,000 to accommodate, feed and rehabilitate, totalling nearly £500 million a year.
The moves come after Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, announced on Friday that thousands of criminals will be automatically released 40 per cent of the way through their prison sentences, rather than at the halfway point in order to prevent jails in England and Wales running out of space.
In a speech at Five Wells prison in Wellingborough, she said she had no option because of the risk that the prison crisis could lead to a collapse of the criminal justice system within weeks, leading to the “total breakdown of civil law and order”.
Prisoners released early will include violent offenders serving sentences under four years for crimes such as assault, as well as burglars, robbers and thieves.
Sex offenders, terrorists, domestic abusers and those jailed for over four years for serious violence will be excluded as well those subject to parole.
It is projected by officials that the early release scheme, due to start in September, could reduce the prison population by around 5,000 – half the number of foreign offenders.
It is believed officials in the Ministry of Justice are reviewing measures set in motion by Alex Chalk, the former justice secretary, before Rishi Sunak called the snap summer election and the Tories crashed to defeat.
Talks had been opened with Poland and Romania to explore the possibility of replicating a deal with Albania, where around 40 of the most dangerous criminals from the Balkan state have or are being returned to serve the rest of their sentences in their home country.
Mr Chalk also introduced an emergency measure where foreign prisoners serve shorter sentences than Britons.
Under the “early removal scheme”, they can be freed from UK jails and deported to their homelands up to 18 months earlier than a British prisoner would be released if serving the same sentence.
Foreign prisoners face lifetime bans from returning to the UK under the scheme.
This means some lodge human rights or other legal claims while in prison in an attempt to remain in the UK, particularly if they have put down roots and have family in Britain.
Another option being drawn up by the Home Office would entail foreign shoplifters, thieves and drug dealers being deported rather than prosecuted.
The “lower level” foreign offenders would be spared jail and instead given “conditional cautions” under which they would be expelled and banned from returning to Britain.
This scheme is targeted at reducing foreign prisoners on remand who have been charged but not yet convicted. As of March 2024, there were 3,422 foreign prisoners on remand, up from 3,132.
The remand population has risen from 11,000 in 2020 to a record 16,458, partly because of backlogs in crown court cases. It now accounts for nearly 19 per cent of all prisoners.
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