The Humble Petition of residents of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire and the surrounding areas,
Sheweth, that the proposed closure of Wellingborough Prison would result in the loss of up to 600 jobs, reduce capacity in the already overcrowded prison estate and would cost the tax payer millions of pounds as it is the third cheapest prison to run in the whole prison estate, and is mindful of the Borough Council of Wellingborough’s unanimous decision to keep the prison open.
Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House urges the Secretary of State for Justice to postpone the closure of Wellingborough Prison until a full review of the prison estate takes place, and a proper cost benefit analysis is undertaken for each prison and an oral statement is made in the House of Commons which, if any, prison should close.
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c.—[Presented by Mr Peter Bone, Official Report, 4 September 2012; Vol. 549, c. 210.]
[P001114]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Justice:
Closure decisions are based on a rigorous economic and operational evaluation process. This process was correctly followed in reaching the decision to close HMP Wellingborough, which is a sensible piece of estates planning and will result in a genuine saving to the taxpayer. The last prisoners left HMP Wellingborough on Friday 26 October and its operational closure is imminent.
There were 268 staff employed by the National Offender Management Service at HMP Wellingborough when its closure was announced. The closure of the establishment is being managed without the need for compulsory redundancies. Staff are being redeployed to other prisons or if necessary given the opportunity to leave the Service on voluntary terms.
Although some prisons are crowded in that they hold more people than they were originally designed for, all prisons provide safe, decent, and legal accommodation and there are sufficient prison places to accommodate all those committed to custody by the courts. The prison population on Friday 26 October was 86,321 against a useable operational capacity of 91,054, indicating that there were over 4,700 unused prison places. In the current financial climate it is not sustainable for the custodial estate to operate with this degree of headroom.
HMP Wellingborough has an annual budget of £11.6 million for 588 places, which is relatively inexpensive compared to many other establishments of the same type. But operating costs are only one of the factors taken into account in the economic evaluation part of the prison closure decision making process. In HMP Wellingborough’s case, the size and proximity of necessary capital spending on the physical infrastructure of the site meant that there was a compelling case for its closure.
Following operational closure, the site of HMP Wellingborough will be maintained by the Ministry of Justice estates directorate while its future is determined. Plans for the future use or disposal of the site are under consideration and no decisions have been taken.