Prison Plans

 

How is the government doing on its pledge to create 20,000 new prison places by the mid 2020’s? With prison numbers projected to rise from the current 85,000 to between 93,000 and 106,000 by 2027, what’s been touted as the largest prison building programme for 100 years deserves close monitoring.

Prisons Minister Damian Hinds wrote this week that “at least c.6,400 new prison places are anticipated to be delivered by the end of May 2024, rising to c.8,200 by the end of May 2025.”  But in the absence of one published master plan setting out when and where the new cells are expected to come into being, it’s not as easy as it should be to keep track of progress.

In this first of three blogs, I describe where things stand with the largest component of the programme- the building of new prisons. The next one will look at how existing prisons are being expanded and converted to produce more space; and a third will offer some reflections on the process of planning, designing, and constructing additional prison places.

The MoJ are aiming for 9,800 places to be built in six new prisons built from scratch. Of these, HMP Five Wells and HMP Fosse Way, both Category C resettlement prisons are already open.  Five Wells run by G4S, built on the site of the old Wellingborough Prison took its first prisoners early last year. It should have the space to accommodate 1,680 men, though at the end of May 2023, its population was 1,407 and operational capacity 1,420.  

Serco run Fosse Way opened its doors at the end of last month despite “minor construction activity” continuing on what was formerly the Leicestershire site of HMP/YOI Glen Parva. Fosse Way will eventually hold 1,715 men with plans already agreed for a further 250 places to be added.

Further north, construction work is underway on one further Category C men’s prison, HMP Millsike (situated on land opposite the existing HMP Full Sutton in the East Riding of Yorkshire). After it opens in 2025, it will have a capacity of 1,440. 

The three Cat C prisons will add up to 5,085 places to the prison estate. For the MoJ, so far so good.

More problematic is that planning permission for three further new prisons has not yet been granted with the MoJ in the midst of appeals against each of the refusals by the local authorities.    

First, in December 2021, Chorley Council  refused planning permission for a 1,715 place Cat C prison on land next to Garth and Wymott prisons in Lancashire due to the impact it would have on the Green Belt and on road safety.  The local councillors’ decision was made against the advice of their officers, but reflected strongly held concerns of local residents, expressed via the Ulnes and Walton Action Group.   

Following an inquiry in July 2022, the Planning Inspector recommended the MoJ’s appeal be dismissed. But ministers in the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and communities disagreed. The Secretary of State, former Justice Secretary Michael Gove, “is minded to allow the appeal and grant planning permission”, subject to the hazards and risks within the local road network being acceptably addressed.  The inquiry will re-open on 19 September 2023 to consider whether they have been. 

Second, in March 2022, Buckinghamshire Council’s turned down plans for a 1,468 place Category C prison next to HMP Grendon, concerned about limited transport access and adverse impact on the local environment. The MoJ appealed and an inquiry was held in January 2023, with a decision expected by 4 September.

Finally, Harborough Council decided on 7 April 2022 that the proposed 1,715 place Category B prison, south of HMP Gartree in Leicestershire,  was unsustainable by virtue of its location and would have a harmful impact on the character and appearance of the rural surroundings. No decision has been reached following the MoJ appeal and inquiry held in October last year. The Gartree Action Group formed by local residents told the inquiry that the Leicestershire countryside is no place for an industrial scale infrastructure project of this size.

Following Mr Gove’s decision about Chorley, the MoJ is probably fairly confident of a positive outcome there and in all three sites. In all they would provide 4,898 new places.

Should Grendon 2 and Gartree 2 fail to get off the ground, there is one back up possibility in Essex.  Consultations were held in 2021 about the possibility of two new prisons – one Cat B, one Cat C -on the RAF site at Wethersfield.  The result of the consultation does not seem to have been published and no planning application has been submitted to Braintree District Council.  There seems considerable  local opposition.

The option may be off the table since three months ago, the Home Office announced their intention to use the site to house 1,700 asylum seekers, using powers the Crown has in cases of national security and emergencies. The Council’s attempt to obtain an injunction to stop the plan was refused and an outcome of their appeal against that decision is awaited following a hearing this week.  

Beyond that, despite exhaustive searches of central and local government land in 2020 and again in 2022, there look to be no other site options. A search of private sector land in 2020 yielded no real possibilities – presumably as anticipated by the civil service wag that named the exercise Project Emu.

A senior HMPPS official told the Gartree inquiry that “From a planning decision, it would take about 5 years to build the prison”. If he’s right, none of the three sites under appeal will be ready until 2028 at the earliest.  So there may yet be some sleepless nights in Petty France. As another official said to the Chorley Inquiry "the forecast rise in prison population is unprecedented territory for HMPPS."