THE Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has been accused of “moving the goalposts” and applying a “double standard” over the region’s packed prisons.

Despite a surge in the prison population over the summer, the MoJ said all jails remained under their operational capacity.

Last month Holme House, near Stockton, had 1,191 prisoners in a jail with an operational capacity of 1,210 and Frankland 812 from an operational capacity of 844.

Durham had a population of 930 prisoners from an operational capacity of 996 places.

Elsewhere, the semi-open Kirklevington, near Yarm, had a population of 281 prisoners out of an operational capacity of 283 and Low Newton, a women’s prison in Durham, 327 out of 344 places.

However prison campaigners said the levels were way above the Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA) in each establishment – a measure used by the MoJ in its own monthly bulletins – and said this was being ignored.

When the CNA measure is used, Durham’s population was way above its CNA of 595 and Holme House had 155 prisoners more than its CNA, which was 1,036.

A spokesman for the Prison Reform Trust said: “Operational capacity is how many people it has been decided you can cram into that space, whereas CNA is actually what the prison should be holding.

“Using operational capacity as a measure is simply moving the goalposts and means the prison service can shove a couple of people more in a cell.

“While it is true to say that these jails are not over operational capacity, that should never be the objective, the objective should be delivering a service running at CNA.”

Stockton North Labour MP Alex Cunningham, whose constituency includes Holme House, said: “There has been an increase in recent times in the number of people going to prison again and that will dig into operational capacity.

“The MoJ are operating a double standard in terms of these measures and applying which ever one suits them at any one time.

“The bottom line is that conditions in some of our prisons are appalling for the 21st century and the MoJ have been dragging their feet in recent years over planning properly for the future.”

A spokesman for the MoJ said: “No prison is operating above its operational capacity.

“Prison numbers can fluctuate, which is why we have a robust set of plans to ensure we will always have enough places for offenders committed to custody.

“This includes investing £1.3bn in modernising the estate and building new accommodation as set out in the Prison Reform White Paper.”