Building prisons in England and Wales the bigger the better?

3 Building prisons in England and Wales: the bigger, the better?
Summary
This Commons Library briefing describes the expansion of the prison estate as successive
governments have sought to keep pace with the rise in the prison population – a rise that
accelerated in the early 1990s.
It examines
• The rise, fall and projected rise again of the prison population
• The current Government’s plans to increase prison capacity by building “new for
old” and selling off Victorian prisons in city centres
• The Government’s preference for larger prisons on the grounds that they are more
efficient
• What the increasing size of prisons might mean for prisons’ ability to reduce
reoffending and provide decent, safe and effective regimes and
• The Labour Government’s abandoned plans for even bigger “Titan” prisons
The prison population rose sharply from the early 1990s, but has more recently levelled
off. In December 2011 it reached a record high of 88,179, but since then has fluctuated
at around 85,000 and is currently at 85,461 (including those held in immigration removal
centres, as at 29 January 2016). The prison population is projected (according to the
MoJ’s most recent projection) to reach 89,900 by March 2021.
From 1997, the Labour Government undertook various initiatives to expand the capacity
of the prison estate, to ensure it kept up with the rising prison population. It also aimed
to increase efficiency.
Its two major prison building programmes were the Core Capacity Programme (which was
to provide 12,500 places by 2012) and the New Prisons Programme (which was to provide
a further 7,500 places alongside the closure of 5,500 inefficient places). Originally three
“Titan” prisons were to provide those 7,500 places. This proposal, however, attracted a
great deal of controversy and criticism. It was suggested that Titan prisons would be
difficult to manage, would not help to tackle re-offending and would not address the
more fundamental problem of the UK’s over-reliance (as some commentators see it) on
imprisonment. The plan for Titan prisons was subsequently abandoned.
The Conservative party manifesto at the 2010 general election offered a commitment to
increasing the capacity of the prison estate to meet demand. The Liberal Democrat party’s
manifesto, on the other hand, stated that their proposals to reduce the prison population
would end the need for the building programme. Under the coalition Government, the
contract for the new Thameside prison was let and a competition launched for a new
prison in Wales at Wrexham. At the same time, the Ministry of Justice announced the
closure of several prisons, as it sought to replace older prisons with new capacity and so
bring down operating costs.
The current Government has continued these policies. Many commentators have
suggested that the appointment of Michael Gove as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of
State for Justice will mean a shift in the Ministry of Justice’s policies towards prisons and
other criminal justice matters. Some key policies of his predecessor, Chris Grayling, such
as new dual contracting arrangements for criminal legal aid provision and a further cut in
fees paid, have since been abandoned or postponed. Even so, the Ministry of Justice
remains committed to the policy of “new for old”, selling off antiquated prisons (which
they argue are less efficient and less cost-effective) in city centre sites in favour of building
new prisons to better designs.