Britain’s most senior judge blamed worsening overcrowding in prisons on ministers’ refusal to pay for alternatives to jail.

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the Lord Chief Justice, said that there were people in prison who should not be there, arguing that inmates with mental problems would be better off in a psychiatric institution.

Admitting that the overcrowding constituted an emergency, he told the Commons Justice Committee that judges were reluctant to pass community penalties. “One of the problems is that judges are not confident that if they impose a community sentence, it will be properly administered. This is a question of resources: we know that we don’t always have the administrative resources.”

To combat the overcrowding, the Government was building more jails.

Lord Phillips also drew attention to the poor state of some court buildings. “A backlog [of repairs] has grown up and it has come to the horrifying figure of £200 million.”

The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation called on the Government to invest the £2.3 billion earmarked for building “Titan” prisons in alternatives such as restorative justice and intensive foster placements for young offenders.

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