Super-Sized Prisons Anchor $5.2 Billion UK Corrections Plan

LONDON — The United Kingdom government will construct three 2,500-bed prisons as part of a $5.2 billion overhaul and expansion of the prison system in England and Wales.

Larger than any existing British detention facility, the first of the new facilities is expected to be operational by 2012, officials say. The three prisons are planned for London, the West Midlands and a site in northeast England.

The overhaul is designed to alleviate chronic overcrowding and meet projected population increases by expanding prison capacity to almost 100,000 beds by 2014, officials say.

During 2007, the inmate population in England and Wales reached a record high in excess of the prison system’s 81,500 total rated capacity.

A December 2007 review of the prison system in England and Wales — the third such review conducted by Lord Carter of Coles in the past 10 years — forecasted the prison population would rise to between 95,000 inmates and 100,000 inmates by 2014.
Lord Carter’s report, which considered sentencing, detention capacity and prison overcrowding, presented several proposals designed to improve the balance between prison capacity and demand.

In addition to expanding capacity through new construction, the report calls for modernization of prisons and the closure of the oldest, most inefficient facilities — housing approximately 5,000 inmates — by 2013.

The government will meet immediate projected capacity shortages — up to 3,000 beds in 2008 and up to 6,000 beds by 2009 — through short- and medium-term measures, officials say.

A former air force base at Coltishall in Norfolk will be converted into a medium-security facility. Her Majesty’s Prison Wealstun in Yorkshire will be upgraded from an open prison to a minimum-security facility, officials say.

The Ministry of Justice is also pursuing plans to open a prison ship.

Highlighting the need to reconcile criminal justice policy with prison capacity, the report also calls on the government to improve sentencing policies and procedures by developing a structured sentencing framework and establishing a permanent sentencing commission.
Carter also recommended a comprehensive evaluation of the structure and management of the prison system in terms of operational efficiency.

With a 60 percent increase in the inmate population since 1995, England and Wales — jointly served by Her Majesty’s Prison Service — have the highest per-capita prison population in Western Europe, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

For every 100,000 residents in England and Wales, 148 individuals are incarcerated, compared to an incarceration rate of 85 per 100,000 in France and 93 per 100,000 in Germany. HMPS operates 128 prisons, with an additional 11 detention facilities managed by private prison operators, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Since 1995, when prison system capacity in England and Wales stood at 53,000 beds, nine new prisons were built to increase system capacity by approximately 27,500 beds, according to the Ministry of Justice.

This latest plan to expand prison capacity will augment the government’s 2004 prison expansion initiative that pledged to provide 1,300 new beds within five years. In the wake of the 2006 Rebalancing the Criminal Justice System Review, the proposal was subsequently revised to 9,500 beds in June 2007.