Jack Straw is preparing to announce emergency measures to release hundreds more offenders early in the face of record levels of prison overcrowding.

The Justice Secretary has also announced that he is considering a ban on prison officers striking, in the wake of the recent strike action that caused chaos in jails.

He is also attempting to speed the release of almost 400 prisoners currently serving indeterminate sentences whose tariffs have expired, but have not been able to go on courses to deal with their offending behaviour.

Mr Straw told MPs last night that he had not ruled out “any emergency measures” to cope with prison numbers that last week stood at 81,245.

“We are running to stand still,” he told the Constitutional Affairs Select committee.

The “bounty”, or breathing space, brought in June by the release of less serious offenders 18 days early had been exhausted much more quickly than expected, he admitted. “We thought that [the bounty] would be longer than it has been.”

In the wake of the recent strike by prison officers he was “actively considering” reintroducing a ban that would make any further industrial action unlawful, he said. “I don’t rule it out.”

Prison officers had been subject to the same legislation outlawing industrial action as police officers, Mr Straw told MPs. But that was subsequently appealed, although the then Home Office minister, made clear that the Government reserved the right to reintroduce the measures.

The Justice Secretary added that he accepted that prison officers did not have the public esteem they deserved and suggested that more needed to be done to “celebrate” their work.

On the crisis of prison numbers, Mr Straw told MPs that the prison building programme would bring another 300 places by Christmas.

“We are working very hard to bring the accommodation which is being built on stream as fast as possible.”

In addition, he said procedures were being looked at to see whether prisoners whose tariff had expired – and were now being held beyond their sentence – could be released more quickly.

The continuing detention of these prisoners, awaiting places on courses deemed necessary before they can be considered for release, has been ruled unlawful in the High Court.

Mr Straw said that 392 such prisoners were being held adding: “I do not regard that as satisfactory.”

In all, he said, 3,019 prisoners had been given these indeterminate sentences for public protection, with an average tariff of 38 months. “I agree we need to take some urgent action to get these people through the system. It is not right to have people incarcerated if it is not necessary for them to be there.”

On the constitutional dispute with the judges, Mr Straw said that he had set up a working party to look at the relationship between the Ministry of Justice and the Court Service, which is one of the judge’s key concerns. But a solution was probably “months off”.

“Improving relations with the judiciary is not an event, it is a process, a continuing process.”

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