Titan Returns!

The new darling of the Tory party Chris Grayling is clearly intent on creating the impression that he's a man of action by announcing the largest prison closure programme just days after signing Probation's death warrant. 

You will recall that the previous Justice Secretary Ken Clarke started the ball rolling with some modest closures such as HMP Lancaster, at the time the oldest prison still in operation by far. Of the new batch set for closure, HMP Shrewsbury and HMP Shepton Mallet were also in Ken's sights but in the end had a stay of execution. Of course as well as being old they are also 'listed' as being of considerable historic importance and finding suitable alternative uses will pose quite a problem, especially during the present economic climate. This is especially true of Shepton Mallet whose high walls absolutely dominate the town centre and it's to be hoped will not blight it for too long. 

In addition to the significant job losses that will no doubt heavily affect a small community like Shepton Mallet, there is the no small matter of what to do with the current inmates, all of whom are life sentence prisoners and many have been settled in the place for years. It probably won't generate much sympathy, but I know from experience that some very long term prisoners will become institutionalised to the point where release becomes almost impossible and I think Shepton is currently home to quite a number of these. Closure is going to be very unsettling indeed for some.

Other prisons set to close are HMP's Kingston, Bullwood Hall, Canterbury and Gloucester with partial closures of Camp Hill, Chelmsford and Hull. This removes 2614 places from the nominal estate, but there are plans for new wings or 'house blocks' at HMP's Parc, Peterborough, the Mount and Thameside totalling 1260 beds. However, in a move designed I suspect to put the wind up the Prison Officers Association and presage further closures, the government have also raised the spectre of a 'super' prison again holding about 2,000 inmates. 

Of course this idea was roundly condemned when Jack Straw and the previous Labour Administration proposed three mighty 'Titan' prisons of up to 2,500 inmates each, no doubt to be run by a private contractor. This might just be a bit of kite-flying by Chris Grayling in order to test reaction again and irritate the POA, but the choice of possible locations is intriguing to say the least. Only Wales, north west England or London are suggested as possible lucky recipients. In the end it's all about saving money and clearly there are significant economies of scale to be had in large prisons, whatever Chris Graying says about better training facilities etc etc - all a distraction from this key driver. 

Interestingly, I note that HMP Dartmoor survives once more and I can only assume that the landlord, HRH The Prince of Wales in the form of the Duchy of Cornwall, is driving a particularly hard bargain before agreeing to accept return of the gatehouse keys!