How a £250m super prison has made a North Wales industrial estate into UK’s ‘centre of incarceration’

The number of English prisoners jailed in Wales has risen dramatically over the past year, prompting concern that the country is being used by the UK Government as a “centre of incarceration” to alleviate a growing prison crisis.

Figures published in response to a written parliamentary question show 1,256 prisoners with a recorded address in England were being held in Welsh prisons – a 76 per cent rise since last March, when freedom of information figures showed there were 714.

It follows the opening of a new “super prison” on an industrial estate in Wrexham last year. HMP Berwyn, with a capacity for 2,106 prisoners, is the largest prison in the UK and the second biggest in Europe.

The jail was widely expected to be a "prison for North Wales", but six months after it opened, figures showed just 8 per cent of prisoners were from the region, with the majority from England. Campaigners have said this is detrimental for inmates and their families who are often further from home as a result.

Plaid Cymru is now calling on Westminster to urgently drop plans for a new super prison on the other side of Wales in Port Talbot, which would house an additional 1,600 inmates, warning that it would "only exaggerate" an "already unacceptable" situation.

Liz Saville Roberts MP, Plaid Cymru’s justice spokesperson, told The Independent: “It is evident that prisoners with postcodes in England are being transported considerable distances from their families.

“It is generally recognised that maintaining family connections is a critical factor in the rehabilitation of prisoners and preventing their return to crime upon release.

“That the number of English prisoners in Wales has jumped by 76 per cent in just nine months serves to underline that Wales is being used by Westminster as a centre for incarceration which neither suits Wales’s economic needs nor the needs of the public, who expect to be protected from crime.

“There is an increased burden on Welsh public services from prisoners who remain in Wales following their release. The imposition of a super prison on Port Talbot for an estimated 1,600 additional prisoners will only exaggerate this already unacceptable position.

“Decisions about prison capacity in Wales should be designed solely with Welsh needs in mind, and by the National Assembly for Wales, not by Westminster.”

Although it was widely believed HMP Berwyn was built to house many prisoners from the region, documents released by the Ministry of Justice under freedom of information powers last year show that the plan was always to also transfer around 1,400 English prisoners to the site.

A planning report stated: “There was a shortage of around 800 places for prisoners originating from North Wales. This is a strategic need that must be addressed and the Wrexham site does this.

“The balance of around 1,400 places could be met through the closure of a similar number of places at old or inefficient sites in the North-west region.”

Dr Robert Jones, lecturer in criminology at the University of South Wales, who obtained the documents, questioned why the decision was not discussed and debated more at the time.

“This is not an accident. The Government knew full well that this was a prison that was going to be almost two-thirds prisoners from England and not Wales,” he told The Independent.

"Even before the decision to build the new prison in North Wales was made, it was purposefully designed to hold prisoners from Liverpool and Manchester. The question is now: what was the logic for that? Why wasn’t this discussed and debated at the time?

“The benefits to Welsh prisoners are somewhat dubious. And of course, if you’re displacing English prisoners in Wales we also need to think about English communities. The greatest effect is arguably prisoners from the North-west of England.

“Would those prisoners who are now being held in Berwyn have previously been held closer to home?”

Dr Jones said the significant rise in English prisoners jailed in Wales raised “all kinds of questions” about the Government’s commitment to supersize prisons and the “blind spot in their thinking” about the impact distances have on communities.

“There’s an oxymoron in the Government's policy on supporting prisoners and their families and at the same time opening supersize prisons which are underpinned by a one-size-fits-all mindset,“ he said.

“When you put so many people in one prison, there is of course a large number of people who are going to be placed far from home as a result. And all of the research shows that keeping family links and prisoners as close to home as possible is beneficial to resettlement upon release.”

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns for the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the new figures were “not a surprise” but said they confirmed HMP Berwyn was “not really a Welsh solution to a Welsh problem”.

He added: “It is all about trying to create capacity for what is an overcrowded English prison system. Within Wales it was sold as being good for the economy. There wasn’t a prison in North Wales so it was thought this would help Welsh prisoners who are jailed in England.

“But ultimately, that is not why these prisons are being built in Wales. They’re being built in Wales to service an English issue.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Closeness to home is one of a number of factors considered when choosing where to place prisoners.

"We also consider other factors such as length of sentence, security category and offending behaviour requirements as well as the level of demand on regional prison capacity.”