More than 10,000 foreign criminals are currently in jails, including 2,988 for violent offences and 1,575 behind bars for sexual offences.
The cost of housing foreign criminals has skyrocketed (Image: Getty)
Keeping foreign criminals locked up in British prisons is costing taxpayers about £530million a year, shocking figures have revealed.
Ministers are facing calls to drastically increase the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) being deported amid an overcrowding crisis.
More than 10,000 criminals from abroad are currently in jails, including 2,988 for violent offences and 1,575 behind bars for sexual offences.
This cohort makes up 12% of the 87,028 offenders in prison.
The UK prison system has been become overwhelmed (Image: Getty)
Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe told the Daily Express: “There shouldn’t even be a debate around the deportation of these criminals – it must be delivered.
“Here is a straightforward and deliverable solution to relieve part of the prison overcrowding crisis.
“Deport these criminals, and free up huge amounts of prison space. Let’s stop talking about it, and just get on and do it.”
Mr Lowe added: “Following my questioning of the Ministry of Justice, it seems that the yearly cost of holding foreign criminals in British prisons is at least £533,311,980.
“A staggering cost, which the British taxpayer should not have to bear”.
Reform’s Deputy Leader Richard Tice branded it a “shocking waste of taxpayers’ cash”.
He added: “This is why our taxes go up and up.
“Deport foreign criminals, save money and free up prison places.”
Almost 4,000 – 3,936 – FNOs were deported last year, according to Home Office figures.
And 15,364 foreign criminals are living in communities across Britain despite being eligible for deportation.
This number has skyrocketed from 11,266 in 2022. This, in itself, is a near doubling of the number of foreign crooks avoiding deportation.
The Ministry of Justice has estimated it costs around £50,000 to house every prisoner for a year.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans in July to temporarily release thousands of prisoners early.
In September, 1,700 were let out after serving just 40% of their sentences, compared to the usual 50%.
Another batch of criminals are set to be released on Tuesday, with those serving sentences of more than five years set to be released for the first time.
Ms Mahmood revealed some of those let out early on Tuesday were likely to end up in taxpayer-funded hotels because they will be homeless.
The prison population in England and Wales fell by 2,188 in the week following the mass early release of offenders to deal with overcrowding.
There were some 88,521 prisoners as of 6 September – a record high, with only 1.2% capacity left in the system.
