Chancellor George Osborne and Justice Secretary Michael Gove have unveiled a major new prison reform programme including plans to build nine new prisons.
Government sources say that the prison-building programme will cost more than £1Bn. The Victorian prison site at Reading will be the first to be sold.
The new prisons will open in England and Wales, under plans to close “Victorian” jails and covert them into housing.
According to the government, five of the new jails will have opened by 2020.
The plans form part of the chancellor’s spending review, due on 25th of November. The new sites have not been decided yet, but about 10,000 inmates will be moved in a bid to save about £80M a year due to the reduced cost of modern facilities.
The programme will allow 3000 new homes to be built, boosting house building in urban areas.
Chancellor George Osborne said: “This spending review is about reform as much as it is about making savings.
“So we are going to reform the infrastructure of our prison system, building new institutions which are modern, suitable and rehabilitative. And we will close old, outdated prisons in city centres, and sell the sites to build thousands of much-needed new homes”.
The reforms are also part of ensuring Britain’s prison system is up to date and fit for purpose in the 21st century. With half of inmates reoffending within a year of release and half of prisoners having no qualifications, Justice Secretary Michael Gove said: “We will be able to design out the dark corners which too often facilitate violence and drug-taking.
“And we will be able to build a prison estate which allows prisoners to be rehabilitated, so they turn away from crime.
The government say they will also complete the new prison being built at Wrexham and expand existing prisons in Stocken and Rye Hill.
The post Government plans to build new prisons in major prison reform programme appeared first on UK Construction Online.
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