Deon Green, Gleaner Writer

LONDON, England:

The new Ministry of Justice created in Britain yesterday, following the separation of the roles of the Home Office, will have as its priority the chronic overcrowding in British prisons, The Gleaner has learnt.

Such priority is expected to impact on foreign nationals who are behind bars, with Jamaicans making up the largest such group. The authorities have claimed that had it not been for the foreign inmates, there would not be a crisis of overcrowding.

The changes come with numerous criticisms, following a series of blunders and controversies over immigration failures, the failure to consider more than 1,000 foreign prisoners for deportation, the release of dozens of prisoners before they were thoroughly analysed, border control, among others.

The new Ministry of Justice has been given the responsibility for prisons, probation and sentencing, while the Home Office retains responsibility for security, crime, drugs, counterterrorism and identification cards.

The man in charge of the new ministry, Lord Falconer, has argued that the separation of responsibilities means a better justice system with less repeat offenders, better public protection and more effective sentencing.

Largest group

Jamaicans make up the largest group of foreign nationals in British prisons, costing the Government here £49 million (J$6.5 billion). The total cost to maintain the foreign prison population is approximately £400 million (J$53 billion) annually. The issue of having prisoners serve their sentences in their country of origin could become a reality soon. Only last week it was revealed that British authorities were showing renewed interest in that suggestion.

Up to the end of last week there were a record 80,313 inmates in British prisons from 164 different countries. Jamaicans account for almost 1,500 inmates.