UK government to build four prisons to create 5,000 new places
The government has unveiled plans to build four new prisons in a bid to tackle overcrowding and replace Britain's ageing prison infrastructure.
Sites in Yorkshire, Wigan, Rochester and Port Talbot have been assigned to create 5,000 new prison places, building on the government’s commitment to create up to 10,000 places by 2020.
Up to 2,000 construction jobs will also be created and the government claims there will also be opportunities for local businesses.
The move is part of the Ministry of Justice’s £1.3bn programme to transform the prison estate.
Justice Secretary Liz Truss said: “We cannot hope to reduce reoffending until we build prisons that are places of reform where hard work and self-improvement flourish.
“Outdated prisons, with dark corridors and cramped conditions, will not help offenders turn their back on crime – nor do they provide our professional and dedicated prison officers with the right tools or environment to do their job effectively.”
However, the investment in new buildings has been criticised as the plan to create more spaces is not matched with a plan to reduce numbers of people in jail.
Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “This massive investment in new prisons is not matched by a credible plan to reduce our reckless overuse of prison in the first place.
“The prison estate certainly needs an overhaul, but reducing demand would mean closing prisons, not opening them. The government has admitted that it has no idea when overcrowding will cease, and this announcement takes us no closer to an answer to that crucial question.”
He said that there needed to be a comprehensive plan for the whole prison estate, including measures on how demand will be reduced and closing prisons no longer needed as a result as well as detail on when overcrowding will end, how far prisoners’ families will be expected to travel for visits, and “when every prison will be equipped to the same modern standard to do the same job of rehabilitation”.
The MoJ previously announced that it would add £100m to the budget to increase frontline staff by 2,500 after prison riots last December at HMP Birmingham and planned industrial action by prison staff last month over pay and pensions.