- first tranche of cells up and running at HMP Norwich as 1,000
rolled out across the country
- comes as work starts on £38 million renovation of Victorian
prison wing
- move to build 20,000 new prison places to protect the public
The new units are the first of 1,000 Rapid Deployment Cells being
rolled out at 18 prison sites across the country to meet the
rising demand for prison places.
The first batch of 48 rapid cells at Norwich are already taking
their first prisoners, having been constructed and lifted into
place just 7 months after the signing of contracts.
It comes as work started yesterday on a £38 million renovation of
HMP Norwich’s Elizabeth Fry wing which will create over 170 new
jail cells by 2025, delivering the long-term places needed to
lock up dangerous offenders and keep the public safe.
Minister for Prisons and Probation, , said:
Prison cells protect the public by making sure we have enough
space to put dangerous offenders behind bars – that’s why we’re
investing £4 billion to deliver 20,000 extra places.
We’re rolling out a thousand Rapid Deployment Cells to create
extra spaces quickly while we press ahead with the biggest
expansion of prisons in over a century – building six new jails
and creating thousands of additional cells by renovating and
expanding existing sites.
The first rapid cells at HMP Norwich are already boosting
capacity while our multi-million-pound renovation of the
Elizabeth Fry wing will create long-term places to protect the
public.
Rapid Deployment Cells have a lifespan of around 15 years and are
designed to quickly create extra capacity across the prison
system estate to meet rising demand, while longer-term expansion
is underway.
By creating extra space, the new rapid cells also aid the smooth
running of prisons by giving governors more choice in how they
manage prisoners day-to-day.
The Rapid Deployment Cell Project is seeing 1,000 cells rolled
out at 18 sites across the country – the majority of which will
be delivered this year.
The news comes as builders yesterday broke ground on the £38
million renovation of HMP Norwich’s Elizabeth Fry wing – which is
the first project in the Ministry of Justice’s Accelerated
Houseblocks Delivery Programme to commence.
Thousands of new prison places across the country are being
delivered by expansions and renovations to existing prisons. In
June the government announced a £500 million contract to create
2,200 extra places by building new house blocks at 6 prisons,
while major renovations at HMP Birmingham and HMP Liverpool –
where every cell is being renovated – will create more than 600
new places between them.
The government is delivering the biggest expansion of prison
places in over a century, creating 20,000 additional places to
achieve the vision set out in the Prison Strategy White Paper of
a resilient system which can meet the capacity demands of the
21st century. This includes building 6 new jails backed by over
£4 billion.
This spring the 1,700-capacity HMP Fosse Way near Leicester will
open its doors, and construction has already
started on HMP Millsike, the UK’s first all-electric prison
in East Yorkshire, which will hold nearly 1,500 prisoners when
full.
