As soon as Justice Secretary Ken Clarke announced his intention to reduce the prison population by some 3,000 and close several prisons, speculation began as to exactly which might be in the firing line. Indeed I have previously stated that two of the oldest, HMP Lancaster and HMP Dartmoor must be prime candidates because of their small size, state of repair and listed status.
In fact according to the latest report from the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Dartmoor, the harsh weather has continued to wreak havoc on the fabric and conditions are so bad that more wings have been declared uninhabitable. As a consequence the capacity has reduced from 614 to 493. The case for closure is therefore even stronger and the Ministry have made it clear that they would dearly love to close it, but there is a problem because perversely in so doing, it would cost a small fortune.
The reason is that the property does not belong to the government, but is instead rented from the Duchy of Cornwall for a current annual rent of £667,134. As it would appear to be held on a full repairing lease, should the Ministry wish to close the doors, they cannot just hand the keys over and walk away. The property would have to be fully repaired and refurbished before the landlord would accept a surrender of the lease. Clearly all the money in theory 'saved' over the years by deferring repairs is going to end up costing a whole lot more in an expensive refurbishment.
Of course the supreme irony is that far from being a candidate for closure in order to save money, it looks increasingly as if HMP Dartmoor has a bright new future as a fully repaired and modernised prison. To do otherwise and hand it back to a grateful landlord would after all be an astonishing waste of public money. It seems that the local Princetown economy might be spared after all and have the Duchy of Cornwall to thank.
It's highly likely that HMP Lancaster is in the same situation in relation to their landlord, the Duchy of Lancaster. By the way, for readers overseas the beneficiaries of these two ancient Trusts dating from the 13th Century are the heir to the throne and monarch respectively. No doubt each can afford expensive lawyers to ensure that the terms of any lease are fully complied with.
Quite right too. Our built heritage is not just the Tower of London and the Houses of parliament. These prisons are part of the heritage and should therefore be retained in good order, regardless of the short term use to which they are put. The landlords have a responsibility to the nation to maintain their estates and if the terms are a reparing lease, then so be it. The lessee must comply - and if that is HMG, then so be it.
ReplyDeleteThe future head of state and king of this country is effectively the landlord of a prison leased to his government[as well as other properties]. This alone is an example of why more and more people are becoming sympathetic to the idea of a republic.
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