Government requests use of police cells as prisons fill up - South Yorkshire figures revealed

Harry Harrison
By Harry Harrison
Published 2nd Feb 2023, 00:06 BST
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now
The number of South Yorkshire Police cells made available to the government to house male prisoners has been revealed in a Freedom of Information request (FOI).

In November 2022, The Guardian reported the Ministry of Justice had requested the “urgent use” of 400 police cells across the country for the first time in 14 years, due to the lack of space in men’s prisons. The request would mean that if needed, male prisoners would be placed in police station cells until space had freed up in prisons.

When the story broke, The Star submitted a Freedom of Information request (FOI) to South Yorkshire Police to establish how many cells were being offered by the force upon Dominic Raab’s department’s request and, if any, where these police cells were. The force responded to the request on February 1, 2023.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The response revealed South Yorkshire Police had five police cells to offer the government for use by male prison detainees. The force also confirmed the Barnsley Custody Suite, on Churchfield in the town centre, is presently the “dedicated custody suite” for any prison detainees.

READING, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 01: A general view inside the former Reading prison building on September 1, 2016 in Reading, England. The former Reading Prison has opened to the public for the first time, inviting artists and writers in to take part in a new project by Artangel, with works by leading artists including Marlene Dumas, Robert Gober, Nan Goldin, Steve McQueen, and Ai Weiwei. The exhibition opens to the public from September 4, 2016. Included in the exhibit is former inmate Oscar Wildes original wooden cell door, which is on display in the prison chapel. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)READING, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 01: A general view inside the former Reading prison building on September 1, 2016 in Reading, England. The former Reading Prison has opened to the public for the first time, inviting artists and writers in to take part in a new project by Artangel, with works by leading artists including Marlene Dumas, Robert Gober, Nan Goldin, Steve McQueen, and Ai Weiwei. The exhibition opens to the public from September 4, 2016. Included in the exhibit is former inmate Oscar Wildes original wooden cell door, which is on display in the prison chapel. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
READING, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 01: A general view inside the former Reading prison building on September 1, 2016 in Reading, England. The former Reading Prison has opened to the public for the first time, inviting artists and writers in to take part in a new project by Artangel, with works by leading artists including Marlene Dumas, Robert Gober, Nan Goldin, Steve McQueen, and Ai Weiwei. The exhibition opens to the public from September 4, 2016. Included in the exhibit is former inmate Oscar Wildes original wooden cell door, which is on display in the prison chapel. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

According to The Guardian, the request made by the government was part of the establishment of a protocol known as Operation Safeguard. The Conservative prisons minister, Damian Hinds, blamed the Criminal Bar Association strike action for the “sudden increase” in the prison population at the time. This claim has been challenged by charities, MPs and unions.

The last time Operation Safeguard was triggered was between January 2007 and October 2008. Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said in November that the government’s request “could buy as little as a fortnight’s relief” and that there was “nothing to suggest that the new year brings any relief”.

In a BBC News report in November, Kirsty Brimelow KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said there were “insufficient barristers to prosecute and defend in cases” because they had left the profession “due to poor legal aid pay and abysmal working conditions”. She said the prison system was on “track for further crisis” and instead of blaming barristers “it is of public benefit to remedy the chronic neglect of the criminal justice system”.