Independent report

Independent review of the prison system: terms of reference

Published 1 July 2026

Applies to England and Wales

Background and context

• The prison system faces ongoing and future challenges that are not widely understood by the public, both in terms of the risks within the system and opportunities to respond to them. These challenges cut across capacity, safety and decency, security rehabilitation, and are shaped by the age, condition, and configuration of the prison estate.
• Previous investment decisions have mitigated some pressures, but the underlying risks remain structural and long‑term in nature. These risks are compounded by uncertainty over the long-term capital investment in the prison estate, which has increased reliance on short-term or reactive funding approaches. Addressing them effectively requires a clear articulation of the strategic case for reform, grounded in an assessment of the risks of inaction and the principles that should guide future investment.

Scope and purpose

• The independent review will provide a strategic, risk-based assessment of the current, emerging, and future risks and opportunities facing the prison system, including but not limited to:
  • Security (including current risks such as drugs, drones, escapes, and corruption, as well as emerging risks such as cyber)
  • Safety and Decency (including the condition of the physical estate and how prisoners are held, crowding, violence against staff and prisoners, and self-harm)
  • Capacity (including maintaining sufficient prison places in future and levels of crowding)
  • Staffing (including capability, non-effective levels, sickness absence and attrition)
  • It will consider how socio-economic and environmental change, technological progress, sentencing trends, and an increasingly complex prison population compound these pressures, alongside risks linked to constraints of existing technology and infrastructure.
• The review will recognise that prisons operate in a wider cross-government and agency context and will consider the roles and dependencies of private prison operators, other Government departments, arm’s length bodies and partner agencies in supporting prisons to manage and mitigate these risks effectively.
• It will examine the strategic risks to the prison system arising from constraints on long-term capital funding, including the implications of funding uncertainty for affordability, resilience, value for money and systemic stability. The review will build on, and not duplicate, the findings of recent and ongoing reviews, including the Release in Error Independent Review, the Prison Capacity Review, Jonathan Hall KC’s independent reviews of Terrorism in Prisons and Separation Centres, and the Independent Sentencing and Criminal Courts Reviews. It will have regard to wider Criminal Justice System reform and transformation work, including the Criminal Justice Action Group’s longer‑term vision.
• The review will consider evidence on these risks and opportunities to provide a strategy for long-term prison build. The findings of the review are intended to inform future spending and investment decisions.
• All costs within this Spending Review must be absorbed within MoJ’s budget. Future costs must be absorbable within the MoJ’s likely future budget in line with Spending Review outcomes. The review will also seek to identify efficiencies to increase the sustainability of the prison system.
• The review will have regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Environmental Principles Policy Statement in recognition of the duty upon the department to meet these duties when developing policy options in response to the recommendations.
• The review will consider the women’s prison estate at a strategic level, recognising that differences in population profile, custodial pathways and demand may give rise to distinct risks, opportunities and long‑term investment considerations compared to the male estate.
• The review will consider learning from international examples of good practice in the prison system.

Out of Scope

• The review will make recommendations relating only to prisons.
• The review will not develop detailed prison estate delivery plans or site-specific proposals.
• The youth justice system.

The review should report to the Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor by December 2026.