To ask the Minister of Justice for an update on the prison population.

Mrs Long

On 1 June 2023, the total prison population in Northern Ireland was 1,858. By June of this year, the population had increased by over 12% to 2,086. It is to the credit of the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) and its staff that prison establishments have maintained stability and continue to perform effectively despite that pressure. In many cases, justice responses to individual needs and risks may offer the right answers but at the wrong time. Much more could be achieved if there were a collective focus on prevention in the community, rather than the justice system stepping in when earlier opportunities have been missed or when provision was inadequate. That would also mean fewer people in prison, and it would allow the Prison Service to use its resources effectively. I will continue my work to secure a fair budget settlement for Justice, including the funding required to deliver a safe, effective and efficient Prison Service with rehabilitation at its core. I will also continue to be clear about the consequences if that cannot be achieved.

Mrs Long

The budgetary pressure on the Prison Service, as with other parts of the justice system, can mean difficult choices and poorer outcomes for those in the prison system. If we are to safely manage significant and sustained population increases, the Prison Service must have enough officers with the right training and support to do their jobs. It also needs a modern fit-for-purpose estate that can accommodate the population safely and reduce crowding. Prisoners need to be able to access the services and support delivered by a range of partners that can address their needs and risks. Prison Service needs the funding to commission the services required to match the level of need. Many of those services are provided by third-sector partners in the community and voluntary sector, and the uncertainty that faces their budgets is also a challenge for Justice. Ultimately, poorer experiences in custody will lead to poorer outcomes on release and a greater likelihood of reoffending, which perpetuates the damaging cycle that we have and results in more victims of crime. Without proper funding, Prison Service cannot fulfil its core purpose of making the community safer by supporting and challenging people to change.

Ms Ferguson

We know that our prison population has increased by 50% over the last five years. I welcome your statement that prevention in the community and rehabilitation should be at the core of the justice system. Can you update us on any discussions you may have had with the Communities Minister and the Health Minister about the impact of community health and housing insecurity on both the reliance on short-term custody and recidivism rates?

Mrs Long

We have had a number of conversations over many years, and, through the Executive, the Ministers are part of the wider programme to reduce offending and reoffending and sit on the programme board to drive that initiative forward. We recognise that stable accommodation, legitimate employment and the availability of mental health and addiction services are three key things that will help people to reintegrate into the community and build a successful and positive life. Family support is another pillar that can make a huge difference, and we do all we can to allow people to maintain it. There is a role for all the Departments. We need to find better jobs for people, and the Department has recently launched an organisation called The Bridge, which is business-led. It will support employers who want to employ people with a criminal record and help them feel confident about taking forward those employment opportunities.

If we are to see prisoners come out of prison and not reoffend, it is important that they have the opportunity for productive activity during the day and have access to mental health and addiction services, because many of them will trace their offending back to addiction. It is also important that they have stable accommodation. We are doing some bail support pilot work for people who are currently on remand. We will pilot that first with women in the prison system, and that will require cooperation between all those Departments.

Mr Dunne

Minister, time and time again, you say that our prisons do not have a culture problem, but, time and time again, ordinary hard-working prison officers tell me that there is a fundamental problem in our prisons, with some prison wings out of control. Minister, have you lost control of Northern Ireland's prisons, and what will you do to address the fundamental issue around confidence in our Prison Service, both for the general public and, importantly, for our prison officers, who often put their own welfare on the line?

Mrs Long

First of all, I recognise the incredibly difficult job that prison officers do, and I am never shy about saying that I think that they place themselves in a very difficult role. It is a very challenging role in which they deal with people who are vulnerable and volatile, often in equal measure. It is undoubtedly the case that the more people who are in a prison and the more crowding that there is, the more likely it is that people will behave in a way that is disruptive or even dangerous to themselves and others. However, for the Member to suggest that prisons or wings are out of control is simply not the case. I ask him to read the recent Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland reports on Hydebank Wood women's prison, Hydebank Wood Young Offenders Centre, Hydebank Wood Secure College and Magilligan prison. Whilst there were recommendations that suggested where improvements can be made — we take those seriously and will implement them — suggesting that those prisons are out of control is fundamentally to deny the reality that we have two of the best prisons in the UK here in Northern Ireland.

Mr McNulty

Given the recent rapid and unprecedented growth in the prison population and the likelihood of further increases, what plans does the Minister have in place to address that additional pressure on the Prison Service, either by reducing the prison population or by securing additional resources?

Mrs Long

There are a number of things that we are looking to do. I already mentioned the bail support pilot that we hope to roll out, which will allow us to trial alternative methods of supporting people while on bail — so, outside the prison system. We are starting that with women in the first instance, but, if successful, we will try to roll it out across the male estate. That is important in giving judges, the PSNI and prosecutors the confidence that bail is a legitimate alternative to remand. Too often, people are placed on remand as a way of managing risk, but that risk is being managed in a way that could be managed in the community just as effectively. We want to create that confidence. More people are on remand at this point in time in Northern Ireland than in any other jurisdiction on these islands. We have a continuously high remand population. The other thing that we have done is ask for additional resources so that we can provide modular accommodation, which would allow us to upscale the number of beds that we have available in the prison system, not on a temporary basis but permanently, so that we are able to accommodate increasing numbers in an appropriate manner that does not cause the crowding that can lead to a more volatile environment for prison officers to work in. I have also given the Prison Service the authority to recruit new prison officers, and that is happening as we speak. There are a lot of things that we can do. When it comes to early release, I am very reluctant to interfere, other than in exceptional circumstances, with the length of sentence that has been given by a judge. If this is a growing problem with which we will have to wrestle, as other places have, I do not see it as exceptional any longer but, rather, as a matter of routine that we need to manage within our estate.