Government activates temporary prison measure

His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service has reactivated an emergency mechanism to give the justice system greater control over the transfer of prisoners between police, courts and prisons, the government announced.

Operation Early Dawn ensures that offenders are only summoned to a magistrates' court once it has been confirmed that a prison cell is available for them to be held on remand. Until then, they are held at a police station.

This comes after hundreds more people were admitted to prisons in the north of England in the wake of recent protests. This increase in the number of prisoners in the prison system has exacerbated long-standing capacity problems, with many prisons operating at critical capacity for years.

With Operation Early Dawn, the government hopes to manage prison capacity in the short term and ensure there is enough space to detain lawbreakers while a longer-term solution is sought.

Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons and Probation, said:

“We have inherited a justice system that is in crisis and is subject to shocks. That is why we are forced to make difficult but necessary decisions to keep it running.

“However, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated staff and partners, we have been able to create additional places in prisons and are now launching Operation Early Dawn to address the pressures being felt in some parts of the country.”

A number of measures have already been launched to increase prison capacity, including the construction of a new accommodation block at HMP Stocken, the conversion of HMP Cockham Wood and the acceleration of maintenance work in other prisons.

The implementation of Operation Early Dawn will address capacity issues in the following areas:

• North East and Yorkshire
• Cumbria and Lancashire
• Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire

Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp of the National Police Chiefs' Council, responsible for custody, added:

“We work closely with partners in the criminal justice system to manage demand in the system and ensure the safety of the public.

“The police will continue to arrest anyone they need to arrest to ensure public safety, including policing protests and events. They will make sure people are arrested as expected.”

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