Estonia has offered some of its empty prison spaces to the UK government as record numbers of prisoners are being held in Britain amid deepening capacity shortages.
This week around 2,000 prisoners are to be released as part of a controversial early release scheme.
While there are currently no agreements in place, Estonian Minister for Justice Liisa Pakosta told the BBC that her country was in a position to offer its assistance should the new Labour government be agreeable.
The prison population of England and Wales reached a record number last week with Prime Minister Keir Starmer aiming blame at the previous Tory government for “not building enough prisons”.
A spokesperson for Starmer said that the Estonia idea was one that belonged to the previous government and that, “The current government is making no such plans or announcements in relation to Estonian prison places.”
The idea of renting Estonian prison spaces is not new and was first floated by Tory Justice Secretary Alan Chalk, at the time met with considerable criticism from Labour.
According to figures released by the British Ministry of Justice (MoJ) last Friday, the number of inmates had increased by 1,159 since 2 August, which is the week when the UK riots began in the aftermath of the fatal stabbing of three little girls, and now stands at 88,521: the highest figures on record.
Speaking to The Telegraph, the Estonian Minister for Justice said, “The UK and Estonia have a history of successful international cooperation, and such a partnership would create further opportunities to benefit and learn from each other.”
Pakosta said several other countries were interested in renting Estonia’s unoccupied prison spaces, noting that such agreements were an opportunity to “create jobs and ensure local security”.
She pointed to the cost effectiveness of a potential deal saying that it would cost about €3,000 per month to house an Estonian prisoner which is below the EU average.
Pakosta said she discussed issues related to the administration of justice with her UK counterpart at a recent AI conference, but emphasised that no official deals had been made.
She emphasised the safety of her country which has almost as many free prison spaces as occupied ones saying that offering those spaces for rental should not impact on the desirability of Estonia on the international stage.
She told the BBC, “Of course it is not the best topic to promote Estonia.”
Pakosta said, I would assure that coming as a tourist to Estonia, coming to a country with such a low criminality rate, is a very good option.
“It’s so safe we even have so many empty prison places. Half of the prison places are empty in Estonia. So everybody is welcome to come here.”
The idea was also offered as a cost saving measure as UK’s Prison Reform Trust says that the average yearly overall cost of a prison place in England and Wales is just over €55,300
The Estonian offer comes amid a controversial decision of the Labour government to enact an early-release program to free up prison spaces.
Approximately 2,000 prisoners are in line for early release this week which will allow for inmates to be released from custody having served 40% of their sentence.
The current rule allows early release to be considered after 50% of a sentence is served.
Up to 1,700 more prisoners are expected to be released on the scheme this October, with the total scheduled for early release currently set at 5,500. according to The Telegraph.
Britain’s Justice Shabana Mahmood is expected to bring about a new policy which could see those sentenced to less than a year in jail spared time on the inside and instead given tagging, treatment, and unpaid work.
Mahmood said, “I do not think that this 40% level should stand forever more. And that is why I am committing to reviewing this again, in 18 months’ time, when we believe the situation in our prisons will have stabilised.”
President of the Prison Governors’ Association, Tom Wheatley, criticised the effectiveness of the early release system saying that spaces freed up would be filled with rioters.
Wheatley, whose organisation represents 95% of prison governors in England and Wales , said, “We don’t think that the measures are going to give the government 18 months because of the riots. That injection of extra people means that they are not going to get to 18 months. They will be lucky to get 12 months before we are full again,”.
“We remain concerned about the effect of the large number of prisoners released on the probation caseload. Government is going to have to consider other changes to either reduce the prison population or properly fund HM Prison and Probation Service to enable them to deal with it,” he said.