HMP Peterborough 'operating to agreed levels' as concern raised over spaces in jails

The city prison – the only prison in the country that has both a male and a female wing – has a total capacity of 1,304 (360 on the female wing, 944 on the male side).

The latest Ministry of Justice figures, from July show that the population of the privately run prison was 1,215.

This is an increase from June, when the population stood at 1,199.

However, the official figures do not break that down between the male and female sides.

The latest Ministry of Justice figures show that on Monday, August 24, the UK prison population was 86,483, while the total capacity was 88,937.

The MOJ statistics show that of the 86,483 prisoners, more than 83,000 are male.

The lack of space in prisons across the country has led to the controversial early release scheme, which has seen some prisoners allowed to be released only part way through their sentence.

The BBC reported that in a bid to increase the overall capacity in the prison estate, it had been suggested that laundry rooms would be transformed into cells.

When asked by The Peterborough Telegraph about the current population of HMP Peterborough – and if there were any plans to convert other areas of the jail into cells, a spokesperson for Sodexo, who runs the prison, said they would not comment on the issue, but said ‘we are operating to our agreed occupancy levels.’

The early release scheme came under particular scrutiny in August, when it was revealed that two people convicted of the manslaughter of a police officer could be due for early parole.

Simon Megick, chief constable of Cambridgeshire Police, was one of 50 top cops who signed a letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, calling for Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were sentenced in 2020 to 13 years over the death of PC Andrew Harper, to serve their sentence in prison. They could have been due for early release in January 2027 as part of the scheme.