NOMS reduction move on MoJ prison expansion policy

NOMS reduction move on MoJ prison expansion policy

Exclusive:

It can be exclusively revealed that this morning the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) stated that it had no plans for prison expansion. Previously, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced that it intended to build 3 Titan Prisons, catering for 2,500 in each, following the recommendations of the Carter report. However, this proved too controversial and the plans were scrapped in favour of plans to build 5 smaller prisons with spaces for 1,500 in each prison, a total of 7,500 new places. Now even this plan has been scrapped because of the economic downturn. When the MoJ press office was contacted for confirmation, I was referred to a 2 month old statement. As Harold Wilson famously said “A week in politics is a long time”. Apparently, there is a breakdown in communication between the MoJ and its press office. No statement has yet been issued by the MoJ on this welcome U Turn. Whereas such a move would normally bring criticisms from the Tory party that Labour are going soft on crime, the reality is that there is little money in the pot and other priorities are more pressing.

Phil Wheatley, Director General of NOMS, said that “the Government's policy is to close old and inefficient establishments (5,000 places) and to build 5 new establishments (7,500) - net increase 2,500”. In other words, it is a reduction of 5,000 prison places. Whilst this is a welcome first step, it does not go far enough. Having been critical of the Tory plans to expand by a privatisation prison building programme advocated by the discredited Jonathan Aitken and Stuart Mitson, this is still too close to Tory policy for comfort. That NOMS is still in the process of tendering, means that nothing has yet been finalised. There’s room for yet another step back. Firstly on the ground that even hardliners in the US are advocating closing more jails and letting more prisoners out, because of the lack of finances. Secondly because law and order is not gauged by more prisons and more prisoners but by less. Crime prevention rather than trying to deal with offenders after the event. The only plus side is that the 5 new prisons, if built, will not be on the basis of a rigged Prison Reform Working Group operated by the Tories. What’s the point of a think tank if they don’t think to examine what their own members are getting up to?

Related tidbits

NOMS is happy that the expected sharp increase in the crime statistics, as a result of times getting harder, has not materialised. Because of the no rise in crime, it would be difficult to justify public expenditure on a prison building programme.

NOMS is also seriously considering adopting methods which produces crime prevention, on the cheap, at local level. When specifically asked whether this means extending the pilot projects in relation to the policy of Justice Reinvestment, this was met with a positive response. Examples were given whereby local initiatives are already underway. Drinkers who leave pubs and clubs late at night or in the early hours of the morning, and who would normally just hang about the city centres because of the lack of buses and taxis, and might lead to rowdiness, is being resolved by taxis and buses being provided to disperse the crowds.