20,000 new prison places … but only 660 in open conditions

Only one in 30 of the new prison places being built by the Government will be open places, the Ministry of Justice has revealed.

Prisons Minister Damian Hinds told the House of Commons that out of the 20,000 new prison places being built in England and Wales at a cost of £3.75 billion, just 660 – or 3 per cent – will be at open prisons or in open units of closed prisons.

The total current prison population of 82,161 includes 4,731 people being held in open conditions, which is 6 per cent of the total. Therefore, the prison-building programme is likely to result in an overall reduction in the proportion of prison places which are in open conditions.

The centrepiece of the prison-building programme will be six brand new men’s prisons, all closed establishments in security categories B or C, and together holding around 10,000 men. The rest of the new places – including 500 for women – will be created by adding accommodation to existing jails.

Hinds said on November 9, in response to an MP’s written question: “We are investing £3.8 billion to deliver 20,000 additional, modern prison places including 2,000 temporary prison places across England and Wales by the mid-2020s. This portfolio of work will deliver 660 additional places through expansion of the Category D estate at a number of sites across the country.”

Of the planned six new jails, one – HMP Five Wells – opened this year. Two more are under construction, at Glen Parva and Full Sutton, while three more have yet to be granted planning permission. Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has said the 20,000 places will be ready “by the mid-2020s”.

As well as the 4,731 people in open conditions, Hinds said there were 1,433 category D prisoners – who would normally be considered suitable for open conditions – currently housed in closed conditions. Among these are men who have recently been returned from open conditions and are awaiting recategorisation to a higher security category.