The government reactivated “Operation Early Dawn” today – but what is it, and why is it such a big deal?
What is Operation Early Dawn?
This is an emergency government plan meant to ease overcrowding in prisons in the North of England.
The temporary measure – which was last used by the Tories in May – means defendants waiting for a court appearance are held in police cells for longer, until prison beds are available.
The gov.uk website said: “Operation Early Dawn involves an operational assessment being made each morning and throughout the day by the prison service, courts and police on which defendants can be transferred from police cells and taken to courts to ensure there is a safe and secure location if a defendant is remanded to custody.”
It comes amid capacity concerns in the North East, Yorkshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.
Taking aim at the Conservatives’ legacy, prisons minister Lord Timpson said: “We inherited a justice system in crisis and exposed to shocks. As a result, we have been forced into making difficult but necessary decisions to keep it operating.
“However, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated staff and partners, we have brought forward additional prison places and now introduced Operation Early Dawn to manage the pressure felt in some parts of the country.”
The measure will be under constant review and could be deactivated at any point.
Ongoing trials in the Crown Court will not be directly impacted.
What does this have to do with the riots?
Concerns around prison capacity have been circulating for several years, as many establishments have been operating with “under 1% capacity”, according to the government’s website.
This growing worry was then exacerbated by the violent thuggery seen earlier this month.
The violent, anti-migrant protests which erupted across the country meant many people broke the law – 927 people have been arrested in connection to the extremist far-right riots so far, and 466 charged as of last Monday.
More than 100 have received their prison sentences already, adding to the strain already being felt by the prisons.
The Prison Officers’ Association national chairman Mark Fairhurst told the BBC on Sunday that the prison estate had seen the largest increase of new inmates for some time, particularly in the North East and North West.
“We had 397 new receptions. As of Friday we only had 340 spaces left in the adult closed male estate which is feeling the most pressure,” he said.
How could Operation Early Dawn impact the wider justice system?
This plan could end up delaying court dates, Fairhurst warned.
He said it could have a “massive knock-on effect on the entire justice system”, preventing officers from arresting people and putting them away because of a lack of jail space.
However, the national police chiefs’ council lead for custody, deputy chief constable Nev Kemp, said: “Policing will continue to arrest anyone that they need to in order to keep the public safe, including policing protests and events and ensuring that people are arrested as expected.”
What else is the government doing for prison overcrowding?
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said last month she would, for some cases, temporarily cut a sentence which has to be served before parole from 50% down to 40%.
This initiative will start in early September, and means 5,500 people could be released across the first two months.
However, this will not relate to those convicted of terrorism, sex offences, domestic abuse, and some violent offences.
Those convicted over the riots will not be eligible to have their sentences shortened under Mahmood’s plan either, according to the government.
It comes after the Ministry of Justice said in July that violence and self-harm in the institutions had reached “unacceptable” levels with some prisons “at the point of collapse” due to overcrowding.
The government is also accelerating maintenance work in some prisons, and trying to free up space in others to increase capacity – although this does mean some offenders who live in the North may have to be relocated far from home due to the space issues.