Jack Straw abandons contentious proposal to fix overcrowding in prisons
By Andrew Grice and Nigel Morris
Plans to build three giant "Titan" prisons are to be scrapped by the Government as it begins the squeeze on public spending which was announced in Wednesday's Budget.
The Independent has learnt that Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, has abandoned his flagship proposals for the 2,500-place jails after the Treasury objected to the cost of his £1.2bn prison building programme.
But government sources last night insisted that Mr Straw decided to retreat because of the strong objections raised by penal reform groups as well as local opposition in the areas where the super-jails were planned.
Although the total number of prison places will not be cut, he will announce on Monday that the Government intends to instead build five jails, each with 1,500 places. But only two of the new prisons will go ahead immediately.
A plan to buy a prison ship with 450 places has also been abandoned, after building a traditional jail was found to be 25 per cent cheaper. Proposals for a new generation of multi-storey "Titan jails" holding up to 2,500 inmates each were drawn up by Mr Straw in 2007 in response to prison overcrowding.
They were the key element of a building programme designed to bring prison capacity in England and Wales to 96,000 by 2014. Last week there were 82,757 offenders behind bars – an increase of more than 1,000 since the beginning of the year.
The next idea which should be scrapped is plans for prisons with 1,500 prisoners. This is 1,250 more than should be housed in a prison if rehabilitation is to work properly. No prison should contain more than 250 prisoners.
Titan prisons plans 'abandoned'
Plans for three 2,500-place Titan prisons costing an estimated £350m each are to be ditched, the BBC understands.
Instead, Justice Secretary Jack Straw is expected to reveal proposals for five 1,500-place jails, with two set to go ahead immediately.
Sources say the decision has nothing to do with the Budget or making savings.
Crime reduction charity Nacro said even if Titans were dropped, the government still had a strategy of prison expansion that was a waste of money.
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