Keeping Criminals Behind Bars

Overview

This document sets out a package of criminal justice and immigration measures intended to increase the time offenders spend in custody and to expand prison capacity. It presents the problem as automatic early release and reduced short custodial sentences, which it says have produced a prison population that does not reflect judicial sentences and has forced successive governments into emergency early‑release schemes. The party links this to a reported number of foreign national offenders in custody and to recent statutory changes that shorten automatic release points. The concrete changes proposed are legal and operational. Legally, the party would reverse recent provisions that lower automatic release thresholds, repeal a presumption in favour of suspended sentences for under‑12‑month terms, and impose mandatory whole life sentences for defined child rape offences. Operationally, it would remove foreign national offenders from UK prisons within months, rent 10,000 overseas prison places, and rapidly construct roughly 12,000 additional places on Ministry of Defence land, with a stated target to create 22,000 additional places by 2031 (on the assumption of a 2029 general election). The proposals are wide reaching for sentencing, deportation and prison infrastructure. They would change release practice for standard determinate and serious offence categories, alter probation and recall pressures, and require international arrangements to house foreign nationals. Several of the changes depend on primary legislation or repeal of recent Acts, and some depend on unspecified third‑country agreements to host prisoners.

Key commitments

• End automatic early release for specified serious offences so those offenders serve the full custodial term, removing lower release thresholds for certain categories. A Reform Government would not allow early release for serious crimes including murder, serious violent crimes and rape ensuring they serve the entirety of their sentence. (page 4)
• Create an additional 22,000 prison places by 2031, comprising 10,000 rented overseas places and approximately 12,000 rapidly constructed units on Ministry of Defence land. Reform UK will build or create an additional 22,000 prison places by 2031 (assuming a 2029 General Election). Of these, 10,000 will be rented overseas and approximately 12,000 rapidly constructed on MoD land. (page 5)
• Remove all foreign national offenders from UK prisons within months, transferring custodial FNOs to their home country or to third countries offering rented prison places, and deport non‑custodial FNOs. Within months, a Reform Government will free up 10,000 prison spaces by removing all Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) from British prisons. Foreign criminals sentenced to meaningful (i.e. custodial) sentences will serve their sentences in their home country or another country. Foreign criminals sentenced to non-custodial sentences will simply be deported. (page 9)
• Undo recent statutory changes to early release thresholds, specifically reversing the Sentencing Act 2026 reductions to automatic release points and SDS 40/33 arrangements so parole and licence consideration happens later. We will also undo Sentencing Act 2026 (SDS 33) and SDS 40 changes to ensure other prisoners are not considered for license or parole until much later in their sentence. (page 12)
• Reinstate short custodial sentences under 12 months, reversing the presumption introduced for suspended sentence orders and thereby increasing short custodial terms. Reinstate short sentences to overturn Labour’s attempt to decriminalise theft and shoplifting by ending short prison sentences (less than 12 months). (page 4)
• Introduce mandatory whole life sentences for rape of a child in specified statutory provisions, removing parole eligibility for those offences. We have already announced that we will introduce a mandatory minimum prison sentence of life for child rape ... These will be whole life sentences so offenders will spend the rest of their life in prison without eligibility for parole. (page 12)
• Change planning and the use of Ministry of Defence land to permit rapid modular prison construction, including use of the British Army to assist delivery within 18 months of winning the next election. Reform UK has already committed to building 12,400 new prison places on Ministry of Defence land within 18 months of winning the next general election, built using pre-fabricated modules and British Army assistance. (page 3)

What it would cost

The document quantifies some fiscal and capacity impacts, but does not present an overall costed programme. It cites that there were 10,134 foreign nationals in custody on 30 June 2026 and that FNOs now cost the taxpayer £643m per year. Impact assessments referenced in the text estimate changes to prison place demand: the 2024 SDS40 change was estimated to affect demand by 4,900–6,200 places, the Sentencing Act 2026 changes by 3,600 places, and earlier two‑thirds changes by 2,680 places; the document aggregates these into an estimated 18,000 additional places required from reversing recent policies. It also cites an assessed net annual cost of around £35m linked to an increase in suspended sentences’ demand on probation. The paper gives staffing cost envelopes for new places as ranges (citing an annual envelope from about £235m to around £405m in endnotes), but it does not publish a total capital cost for building the proposed Nightingale‑style sites, nor the cost of renting 10,000 overseas places, deportation logistics, legal transition after repeal of human rights legislation, or the fiscal source for funding. The absence of consolidated one‑ and multi‑year costings leaves the programme’s affordability and fiscal impact unspecified.

How it would be delivered

The document assigns delivery roles to a small set of bodies and to legislative change. Construction of onshore modular places is to use Ministry of Defence land and British Army assistance, with a stated 18‑month target for about 12,000 places following a general election victory. Overseas bed provision is described as renting places in third countries, with examples named such as El Salvador and Kosovo, and will be used to free up 10,000 domestic spaces within months. Legal delivery is framed as repeal or amendment of recent Acts and regulations, specifically undoing parts of the Sentencing Act 2026, repealing a presumption for suspended sentences, and changing automatic release thresholds; those changes require primary legislation. The document references the Sentencing Council, the Ministry of Justice and named prisons only in statistics and context. It refers to use of the armed forces in support roles. Timetables are partial: the 22,000 additional places are targeted by 2031 (assuming a 2029 election), 12,000 MoD places within 18 months of an election, and FNO removal “within months”. The paper does not specify which ministerial department will negotiate or sign overseas rental contracts, which authority will enforce standards in third‑country prisons, or detailed implementation steps for repeals and transfers.

What isn't specified

The document leaves multiple operational and fiscal gaps. It does not provide capital or total lifecycle costings for constructing the proposed onshore modular prisons, nor does it cost the rental or operation of 10,000 overseas places. It names third countries as examples, but does not specify which states have signed or will sign binding agreements, the legal basis for transfers, or how human rights or standards checks will be enforced. While it states plans to repeal or change domestic statute and to leave or alter obligations under human rights law, it does not set timetables for legislation, nor does it specify transition arrangements for prisoners mid‑sentence. Staffing arrangements for tens of thousands more prison places are not detailed, beyond citing broad staffing cost envelopes; recruitment, training and industrial relations risks are not described. The paper also notes criminal justice is devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but does not explain how its proposals would operate across devolved jurisdictions. Finally, it does not identify a funding source or budgetary mechanism to pay for construction, overseas rentals, deportations or the legislative programme.

Language and firmness

The document mixes definitive and conditional language. Many promises are stated as commitments, using “will” or “we will”: for example, “Reform UK will build or create an additional 22,000 prison places by 2031” and “Within months, a Reform Government will free up 10,000 prison spaces”. Other measures are framed as what a government “would” do: “A Reform Government would not allow early release for serious crimes”. Some statements are aspirational: “we will seek to simplify them”. The use of “will” appears where delivery or targets are asserted, while “would” is used for reforming existing laws, reflecting a mix of enacted pledges and proposed legislative change.