PLANS to deport foreign prisoners early and offload inmates to overseas jails are expected to be announced today as the government faces an overcrowding disaster of its own making.

With 88,225 people now locked up in prisons in England and Wales and a desperate shortage of prison officers, the government is also expected to confirm more non-custodial sentences for “low-level” offenders to cut prison numbers.

The plans are due to be announced by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk after the Morning Star goes to print.

But Labour condemned the proposals as “a huge admission of failure by the government.” And the Howard League for Penal Reform said that, while a reduction in prisoner numbers was welcome, the government should have acted sooner to head off the prisons crisis.

The Prison Officers’ Association has warned repeatedly that the increasing dangers to staff caused by overcrowding, coupled with and low pay, was driving them out of the job.

Shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said that deportation of foreign prisoners had dropped 40 per cent under the Tories.

“This half-baked plan is a huge admission of failure by the government,” she said.

Howard League for Penal Reform director of campaigns Andrew Neilson said: “It is quite right for the government to prioritise using prison space for people who have committed serious and violent offences: that’s what prison should be for.

“It therefore makes sense to limit the use of short prison sentences to make room, particularly as the Ministry of Justice’s own research has proven they are ineffective.

“It is unfortunate that the government has not acted more quickly to head off this crisis in capacity with sensible policy measures, but we welcome any move to reduce prison numbers and ensure that prisons can be safe and purposeful places where people can get support to move away from crime.

“Any such policies should not just be emergency measures but should signal a new approach to making sure imprisonment is used as effectively and humanely as possible.”

The Howard League has reported that the top 10 most overcrowded prisons in England and Wales are Leeds, Durham, Wandsworth — all at above 170 per cent capacity; followed by Swansea, Lincoln, Bedford, Preston, Exeter, Doncaster and Winchester.