In 2021 the government announced that it would dedicate £4 billion to building 20,000 new prison places by the mid-2020s. These plans have been faced with opposition from criminal justice experts and local communities.

In this episode, Penelope and Rob are joined by Dr Kate Paradine, Chief Executive of Women in Prison and Nick Hardwick, Professor in Criminal Justice at Royal Holloway University of London to discuss why the government is expecting such an increase in the prison population, whether we need more prison places, and if the government can actually deliver on their proposals.

Kate Paradine @klparadine
Women in Prison (@WIP_live) are campaigning to stop new prison places for women. Find out more about Women in Prison’s work here.

Professor Nick Hardwick @nicklhardwick2
Read more about Nick’s work here.

Further resources
Read the government’s Prisons Strategy White Paper here.

The Transform Justice podcast is hosted by Penelope Gibbs and Rob Allen and produced and edited by Alexandra Kimmons. With thanks to Burges Salmon LLP for use of their space.