Prison officers are asking the Ministry for Justice to reconsider the decision to decommission two wings at Hull prison. The Government says the Victorian accommodation at the jail is not fit for purpose, but the union believes the closure is a way to cut jobs. Victoria Whittam reports.
The Hull East MP Karl Turner has criticised cuts to the city's prison service, saying he fears for the safety of prison officers. Last month the Ministry of Justice announced that C and D wings of Hull Prison will close leading to 70 job losses.
Both wings are Victorian and the government department classed the standard of accommodation as poor. C wing has already closed and D wing will shut next month. None of the jobs will be compulsory redundancies, but there are concerns there won't be enough officers for the remaining 760 inmates.
Hull East MP Karl Tuner has criticised cuts to the cities prison service saying he fears for prison officer safety.
Last month the Ministry of Justice announced the C and D wings of Hull Prison, will close leading to 70 job losses.
Both wings are victorian and the government department classed the standard of accommodation as poor. C wing has already closed and D wing will shut next month.
None of the jobs will be compulsory redundancies, but there are concerns there won't be enough officers for the remaining 760 inmates.
Hull prison is to be reduced in size by around a quarter and hundreds of inmates moved to other jails as part of a cost-cutting review of prisons across the country. 282 prisoners out of the more than a thousand who are currently housed at the jail will be transferred elsewhere.
The moves should happen by April. Seven older jails are to be closed completely and there are plans for a so-called 'superprison' housing two thousand inmates elsewhere in the country. Prisons Minister, Jeremy Wright, spoke to Calendar earlier.
Almost three hundred prison spaces will be cut at Hull Prison as part of plans to change the prison system.
The Government announced today it needs to cut costs of running prisons and will close some of the accommodation at Hull.
The Ministry of Defence says 282 places will go out of a total capacity of 1,044 by April.
The Government has announced that Hull Prison is to partially close as part of a major overhaul of prison estate.
It is considering creating Britain's biggest prison, which would house 2,000 inmates along with four new mini-prisons.
The aim is to bring the cost of running the prison system down. As a result six smaller, older and more expensive prisons would shut, and parts of three others, including some accommodation at Hull, would close.
– Chris Grayling, Justice MinisterWe have to bring down the cost of our prison system, much of which is old and expensive. But I never want the Courts to be in a position where they cannot send a criminal to prison because there is no place available. So we have to move as fast as we can to replace the older parts of our prison system.
That’s why we are moving ahead with immediate plans for new prison capacity, as well as closing older and more expensive facilities.
It’s also why I am now moving ahead with planning for the next generation of new prisons.