Freed cons hotel plan

PRISONERS could be put up in hotels when they are freed early to ease jail overcrowding, according to the Justice Secretary.

Shabana Mahmood told the Commons that inmates who are homeless on release could be temporarily placed in taxpayer-funded budget hotels if there is not enough space in bail hostels or other forms of community accommodation typically used for offenders.

Ms Mahmood announced plans in July to temporarily cut the proportion of sentences which inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40% as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said overcrowding had pushed jails to the “point of collapse”.