May 28 , 2010: New YOI Stopped
The Ministry of Justice has announced that their plans to build a new 360 place juvenile prison on the site of HMYOI Glen Parva will not be pursued as part of additional budget savings.
A cheaper, equivalent number of adult prison places will instead be provided on existing prison sites in a move that reflects the falling population of juveniles in custody.
Plans to build a new Magistrates’ Court in Birmingham have also been deferred as part of additional budget savings.
These cuts form part of the £325m that the Ministry of Justice will contribute to the savings of £6billion for this financial year (2010-2011), which were announced by the Chancellor earlier this week.
The Secretary of State and Ministers are committed to ensuring the ministry plays its part in contributing to savings to reduce the budget deficit whilst not affecting the ability to deliver vital frontline services
Prisons and Probation Minister Crispin Blunt said:
"Meeting the demands of the prison capacity programme more efficiently allows us to play our part in contributing savings to reduce the budget deficit.
"The number of juveniles in custody is falling so it makes financial sense for us to boost the adult prison capacity by increasing the number of prison places available on existing sites – an alternative that provides substantially better value for the taxpayer.
"This Government is committed to reforming the youth justice system to ensure reoffending rates are as low as possible while also dealing with serious offenders."
Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, commented:
"We welcome the decision to cancel the building of a huge new prison for children next to Glen Parva, an existing large prison for young adults. Prison is no place for children and this was a mistaken plan that would have endanged children and the public. Sending children into large, violent prisons miles away from their home does not address offending behavour and fails to make society safer, as the 75% reoffending rate demonstrates.
"Given the current financial climate and welcome decrease in the number of children being sent to prison, it is ludicrous that the new titan prison for children was ever suggested. The deaths, violence and reoffending rates of children’s prisons are a national scandal and this new prison would have been an extremely costly addition to a failing system."