A RAPID increase in the number of people being recalled to prison poses a significant headache for ministers seeking to avoid running out of places, the Prison Reform Trust warned today.

A briefing by the group compiled the latest data on prisons and their populations, showing that the rise of recalls following release is particularly affecting those serving sentences of less than 12 months.

In the year to last September, there were nearly 32,500 admissions to prison following a recall — a 27 per cent increase on the previous year.

Between July and September 2024 alone, there were 9,523 recall admissions, marking a 39 per cent rise on the same quarter in 2023 and reaching a record high.

Almost one in five of the sentenced prison population is now being held on recall, a 7 per cent rise from the year before and another record high.

Ministry of Justice projections indicate that the figure could climb by another 13 per cent by 2026.

Prison Reform Trust chief executive Pia Sinha said the briefing “highlights the urgent need for further reforms to recall and our use of short prison sentences.”

She added: “The evidence is clear: short prison sentences are less effective than other community sentences at reducing crime and the growing use of recall is trapping people in the criminal justice system, rather than supporting them out of it.

“Further measures are needed if the government is to avoid another prison overcrowding crisis.

“These should include the abolition of the use of short, fixed-term recalls of 28 days or less, the removal of post-sentence supervision for people serving short sentences and a transition towards more effective community-based solutions through the introduction of a presumption against short prison sentences.”

 A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We’ve already taken difficult but necessary immediate action to stop our prisons from collapsing. We are now implementing the long-term measures to fix our prisons, reduce reoffending and cut crime.”