News

We force government to release secret prison report

Our Senior Associate, Rebecca Roberts, finally won her six month battle with the Ministry of Justice to release a report about the purported economic benefits new prisons brings to local economies. The disclosure of the report followed an investigation by the Information Commissioner's office....

24 July 2017
News

How much does it cost to keep an old prison empty?

The Ministry of Justice spent nearly £140,000 on water, gas, electricity and other utility bills for the closed Holloway prison site, between August 2016 and February 2017, we can reveal.

The information came in a...

7 April 2017
News

More London prisons up for sale?

Last week, the Evening Standard reported that property agents, Savills, have been awarded a contract to review the possibility of closing and redeveloping London prison sites....

6 April 2017
Comment

A sticking plaster on a failing prison system?

Wind the clock back 15 years to the Social Exclusion Unit report, Reducing re-offending by ex-prisoners. In there you will find a very bold statement by the Prime Minister: 'We need to...

24 March 2017
News

Letter to Justice Secretary on prison jobs bonanza claim

Our Director, Richard Garside, has written to the Justice Secretary, Liz Truss, calling for her to publish a secret Ministry of Justice report on the economic impact of new prisons.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Justice announced plans to build four new prisons in Yorkshire, Wigan,...

24 March 2017
News

What next for the Holloway prison site?

In the latest issue of Red Pepper magazine our Senior Policy Associate Rebecca Roberts writes about the closure of Holloway prison and the Centre's two year project to develop a Community Plan for the site. 

...
6 March 2017
News

More mega-prisons won't fix a broken society

In an article for the OpenDemocracy website, our Senior Policy Associate, Rebecca Roberts, has criticised the government's plans to expand the prison system by 10,000 places and build new prisons, arguing that it will do little to solve the ongoing crisis in the system.

Rebecca describes...

8 February 2017
News

Prison sales no 'cash cow'

Building magazine examines progress on the government's new-build prisons programme concluding that the sale of 'old Victorian' prisons is unlikely to be a 'cash cow' for the Treasury.

The article questions the profitability and viability of closing and selling old prisons to...

6 February 2017