A committee of MPs has warned that overcrowding, staff shortages and blurred lines of responsibility between Westminster and Wales are harming safety and rehabilitation in Welsh prisons and probation.
The House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee published its report, ‘Jagged Justice’, on 9 June after a year-long inquiry. It found that rising numbers, gaps in the workforce and more complex needs are straining prisons, probation and rehabilitation in Wales. The MPs said this has serious consequences for people in the system.
The committee praised “dedicated staff” and found examples of “effective practice”. But it said overcrowded prisons, stretched services and UK Government policy continue to hold the system back.
Westminster runs criminal justice for England and Wales as a single system. Yet the Welsh Government controls many services that matter most for rehabilitation in Wales, such as healthcare, housing and education. The MPs call this split a “jagged edge”. They said it makes reform harder and that the two governments need to resolve it.
Ruth Jones MP, who chairs the committee, said: “Throughout our inquiry and visits to prisons across England and Wales, we found dedicated staff and genuine examples of good practice and innovation. But we also found a system that too often fails the people it is meant to serve.”
High imprisonment rate and no women’s prison
The committee urged the Ministry of Justice to involve the Welsh Government at an earlier stage when it develops policy. Joint working had often gone well, the MPs said. But it depended too much on the goodwill of individual officials rather than on formal structures.
The report also raised concern about how many people Wales imprisons. According to the MPs, Wales has consistently had a higher imprisonment rate than England. In September 2023 the rate stood at 177 per 100,000. That is among the highest in Western Europe and more than double the Western European average of 83. The committee wants the MoJ and the Welsh Government to commission a joint review into the causes. It asked for the findings within 12 months.
Women’s imprisonment formed one of the report’s main themes. Wales has no women’s prison and no Approved Premises. Welsh women who receive custodial sentences therefore serve them in England. Many end up far from home, their families and the services they will rely on after release. Wales has also historically had a higher female imprisonment rate than England.
MPs voiced particular frustration over delays to a Residential Women’s Centre in Swansea, which was due to open in 2024. It would have offered a community-based alternative for about 50 women who would otherwise have faced prison sentences of 12 months or less. The previous government set aside £10 million to build it, the committee said. The current Government has still not decided whether it will go ahead.
Oversight and probation
The committee also questioned oversight of Welsh prisons. It noted that the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Parc, where 17 men died in 2024, could not produce its 2023/24 annual report. The board had only two members, against an expected 17. The MPs called for a targeted recruitment drive, with a focus on bilingual Welsh speakers, so that IMBs across Wales have enough members.
A spokesperson for the IMBs said the Parc board has since recruited new members. It did publish its 2024/5 report, a couple of months late, and its report for the current year will follow as scheduled later in 2026.
On probation, the committee said staff in Wales had been “stretched to their limit”. It warned that the service could be overwhelmed without real investment in officers, pay and conditions. The MPs want a review of staffing, pay and working conditions alongside the coming strategic review of probation. They said this would help the MoJ use more community alternatives to custody.
The MPs said the Prisons Minister, Lord Timpson, agreed with them that the system in England and Wales needs to stabilise before any devolution of powers to Wales. Devolving probation and youth justice was a Labour manifesto commitment, however. The committee wants clarity on the steps needed to achieve it.
Ms Jones said Wales needs “better data, sustained investment, and policy that is designed with the country’s devolution settlement in mind”. She said delivering that would take decisive action from the UK Government and close work with the Welsh Government.
HMP Parc is a category C prison for men in Wales. At its last full inspection before the report, in April 2025, inspectors rated safety as poor and the other three areas as not sufficiently good.
