England and Wales spare prison places 2024

There were approximately 2,838 spare prison places in England and Wales as of November 2024, a decline on the previous month when there were 3,141 spare places.

Estimated number of spare prison places in England and Wales from January 2011 to November 2024

Characteristic	Number of spare prison places
Jan 11	3,864
Feb 11	3,080
Mar 11	2,185
Apr 11	2,282
May 11	2,634
Jun 11	2,514
Jul 11	2,301
Aug 11	1,221
Sep 11	829
Oct 11	1,584
Nov 11	1,044
Dec 11	2,349
Jan 12	1,488
Feb 12	1,606
Mar 12	1,542
Apr 12	2,587
May 12	3,091
Jun 12	3,621
Jul 12	3,540
Aug 12	4,125
Sep 12	4,526
Oct 12	4,691
Nov 12	4,759
Dec 12	6,369
Jan 13	6,175
Feb 13	4,508
Mar 13	3,284
Apr 13	3,712
May 13	3,976
Jun 13	3,913
Jul 13	3,671
Aug 13	3,578
Sep 13	3,200
Oct 13	751
Nov 13	934
Dec 13	1,492
Jan 14	640
Feb 14	396
Mar 14	687
Apr 14	1,358
May 14	1,106
Jun 14	842
Jul 14	958
Aug 14	2,124
Sep 14	1,988
Oct 14	1,866
Nov 14	1,775
Dec 14	2,463
Jan 15	640
Feb 15	396
Mar 15	687
Apr 15	1,358
May 15	1,106
Jun 15	842
Jul 15	958
Aug 15	2,124
Sep 15	1,988
Oct 15	1,866
Nov 15	1,775
Dec 15	2,463
Jan 16	2,279
Feb 16	2,161
Mar 16	1,960
Apr 16	2,043
May 16	2,000
Jun 16	1,875
Jul 16	1,879
Aug 16	1,786
Sep 16	1,288
Oct 16	1,038
Nov 16	1,027
Dec 16	1,247
Jan 17	1,324
Feb 17	1,122
Mar 17	891
Apr 17	1,410
May 17	1,252
Jun 17	830
Jul 17	732
Aug 17	754
Sep 17	1,120
Oct 17	1,151
Nov 17	1,212
Dec 17	2,281
Jan 18	2,200
Feb 18	2,539
Mar 18	2,613
Apr 18	2,795
May 18	3,066
Jun 18	3,450
Jul 18	3,198
Aug 18	2,512
Sep 18	2,273
Oct 18	2,130
Nov 18	2,018
Dec 18	2,660
Jan 19	2,454
Feb 19	2,322
Mar 19	2,056
Apr 19	2,071
May 19	2,000
Jun 19	2,242
Jul 19	1,959
Aug 19	1,768
Sep 19	1,006
Oct 19	1,125
Nov 19	1,620
Dec 19	2,059
Jan 20	1,580
Feb 20	991
Mar 20	2,139
Apr 20	4,074
May 20	1,537
Jun 20	1,964
Jul 20	1,800
Aug 20	1,879
Sep 20	2,006
Oct 20	2,172
Nov 20	2,213
Dec 20	2,205
Jan 21	2,697
Feb 21	2,719
Mar 21	2,469
Apr 21	2,693
May 21	2,278
Jun 21	2,625
Jul 21	2,165
Aug 21	1,891
Sep 21	1,948
Oct 21	1,472
Nov 21	1,195
Dec 21	2,103
Jan 22	1,880
Feb 22	1,813
Mar 22	2,008
Apr 22	2,597
May 22	2,320
Jun 22	2,283
Jul 22	1,915
Aug 22	1,743
Sep 22	2,414
Oct 22	1,624
Nov 22	1,196
Dec 22	2,209
Jan 23	1,756
Feb 23	1,219
Mar 23	1,131
Apr 23	1,197
May 23	786
Jun 23	1,008
Jul 23	971
Aug 23	828
Sep 23	768
Oct 23	1,144
Nov 23	994
Dec 23	1,771
Jan 24	1,466
Feb 24	1,068
Mar 24	1,236
Apr 24	1,408
May 24	1,737
Jun 24	1,458
Jul 24	1,383
Aug 24	1,193
Sep 24	2,886
Oct 24	3,141
Nov 24	2,838

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Release date

December 2024

More information

Region

United Kingdom (England, Wales)

Survey time period

January 2011 to November 2024

Supplementary notes

Data obtained by subtracting prisoner population from operating capacity in the relevant month.

Historical data obtained from Institute for Government at "The Crisis in Prisons"

This statistic uses original data from the Ministry of Justice and includes copyright material from © Crown, licensed under the Open Government License v3.0.

The source adds the following information: "The operational capacity of a prison is the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold taking into account control, security and the proper operation of the planned regime."

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