Councillor Ron Aitken, Lib Dem spokesperson for Crime and Community Safety, is condemning Home Office stop-gap plans to use police cells to hold prisoners. The Home Office intends to take the step because prisons across England and Wales will be full by next week. Cllr Aitken warns that the move could have a serious impact on Haringey’s police stations.

The scheme, known as “Operation Safeguard”, will see prisoners transferred to police stations across the country for days or even weeks, as the Home Office shifts around a prison population that is larger than the capacity of UK prisons. Head of the Prison Governors Association, Charles Bushell, has claimed that the situation is “desperately bad”.

Councillor Aitken comments:

“This crisis is one of Labour’s own making. By failing to provide the necessary prison capacity, and failing to work to reduce the number of prisoners reoffending, they are putting a dangerous burden on custody facilities across the country. Police stations in Haringey are already overstretched, having to cope with cramped and outdated buildings.

“Moreover, I recently discovered that the borough’s cells are already used to hold at least half a dozen prisoners awaiting transport to prison, as well as holding deportees awaiting transport to airports and some who are awaiting admission to local mental health wards. Our police here in Haringey have broad shoulders, but they should not have to pick up the consequences of Government incompetence”.