Warning over plan to reduce jail population
PLANS to treat more mentally ill offenders and drug users in the community rather than sending them to jail are admirable but "fraught with difficulties", the probation union Napo warned yesterday.
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of Napo, said the Government would need to find hundreds of millions of pounds to make the proposals a reality.
His comments came as the Ministry of Justice published its business plan for the next four years.
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Hide AdMr Fletcher said: "Currently there are 1,500 secure beds and an additional 40 or so medium secure regional units for mentally ill people. All are running at capacity.
"The Government therefore will need to find hundreds of millions of pounds to build new facilities."
He went on: "It is difficult to see how the prison population can be reduced."