Hub Prisons

Policy Exchange Hub Prisons Size doesn't matter It's not size, but age that is the key determinant of prison performance. New prisons outperform older prisons, regardless of size. Old prisons New prisons • lower reoffending rates, • greater respect between staff and prisoners, • better quality of life, • better safety measures. This report exposes several myths about prison size: ΜΥΤΗ REALITY New, large, prisons perform equally well, and on many measures are better Large prisons perform worse than smaller ones ill 丑 三 Large prisons are not as safe as smaller prisons Large prisons are no less safe and treat and are less decent prisoners no less well This is predicated on the assumption that large prisons are built in remote locations. Our Large prisons mean prisoners are located further away from their families report proposes prisons built on brownfield sites close to population centres and with good transport links The prisons proposed in this report are designed specifically to reduce reoffending and help prisoners resettle more easily Large prisons will inevitably be “human warehouses" The MoJ's spending dilemma The MoJ has to find additional savings of 9% in its budget for 2015-16. One huge area of opportunity for savings is the prisons budget, with serious inconsistencies from prison to prison over how much it costs to hold each offender: HMP Wayland HMP Kennet £26k HMP Shrewsbury £108k £60k HMP Canterbury HMP Ranby £55k £33k Cost of incarcerating 1 prisoner for 1 year in different prisons (Cat C) The solution The prison estate is worn out and expensive. Bigger prisons are far more efficient than small ones. New, large prisons will produce huge savings and better outcomes for offenders. We would: Close Build 30-35 12 old, expensive prisons state of the art Hub Prisons 2,500 - 3,000 places each Cost £18,000 per place The capital outlay would be £3.75bn • The Exchequer would be repaid in 7 years • Total savings of £10bn over the 25 year repayment period These are far larger savings than can be achieved with the current estate. This plan would cut the prisons budget by a minimum of 20% - equivalent to about 9% of the entire MoJ budget. This is the same amount of cuts as demanded by the current Spending Review. £7bn MoJ budget £3bn Prisons budget Savings made by shift to Hub Prisons £600m How the scheme would work The closures would be made on a regional basis. Here's how it would work in London: Closed estate Total annual cost: £214m New estate Total annual cost: £135m 垂 Brixton (798) Feltham Holloway (501) (2,500) (762) 垂 廷 (2,500) (2,500) 3 new London Hub Prisons Wandsworth (1,665) Wormwood Scrubs Pentonville (1,279) (1,250) Key Annual cost Prison name (capacity) What is a Hub Prison? • Large, purpose-built establishments • 2,500 to 3,000 places • Able to house a number of different categories of prisoners at once Built with new technologies, such as biometric security systems, hardwired into their design and operation. To find out more about Hub Prisons, you can read the full report at bit.ly/pxfutureprisons Policy Exchange shaping the policy agenda