Titan Prison or Titan gaol was a proposed new classification of prison in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, designed to increase the overall prison capacity and improve operational efficiency.
In plans announced in December 2007, the Titan concept included the proposed construction of three new prisons each housing 2,500 inmates, well above the 1,461 capacity of the largest prison at the time,
HMP Wandsworth
HM Prison Wandsworth is a Category B men's prison at Wandsworth in the London Borough of Wandsworth, South West London, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service and is one of the largest prisons in the UK.
History
The prison w ...
in London.
After much opposition and criticism, the plans were understood to have been dropped on 24 April 2009, with the postulated reason being difficulty in gaining planning permission for the new sites. It was expected that capacity would instead be increased through the creation of five new 1,500-capacity prisons, with two to be started immediately.
In a related change, in 2008, the operational management of three existing closely located prisons were merged to form the newly named
Hewell (HM Prison)
HM Prison Hewell is a multiple security category men's prison in the village of Tardebigge in Worcestershire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
On 16 October 2019, the Ministry of Justice announced that HMP Hew ...
, in an effort to improve efficiency, while retaining the existing buildings.
Background
Labour Government Justice Minister
Jack Straw
John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...
initiated a review of over-crowding in the prison system, which resulted in the December 2007 report, ''Securing the Future - Proposals for the efficient and sustainable use of custody in England and Wales'', produced by
Lord Carter of Coles
Patrick Robert Carter, Baron Carter of Coles (born 9 February 1946) was chairman of the review panel examining the future of NHS pathology (reported in 2016). He reviewed the procurement of legal aid in England and Wales (reported in 2006), an ...
Review of Prison
The report amongst other issues proposed the building three new prisons larger than any before built. The existing largest prisons held on average 1,461 prisoners. The new Titan jails would hold 2,500 prisoners each.
There were three proposed Titan prisons, one initially due to be completed in 2012, with the other 2 in 2014. Likely locations were in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, the
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
and the
North West of England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,052,000 in 2011. It is the th ...
.
The location for the proposed Titan Prison in the North West was the Omega business park in of Warrington.
The Titan Prison for the London area may have been located in the Thames corridor region.
Design
The Titan prisons were to have comprised five units, each with about 500 offenders in different segments. The segments would have been served by central catering and healthcare facilities. The new prisons would have incorporated technology by design, including electronic locking and bio-metric identification.
Advantages
The stated advantages were relieved overcrowding, with prison places rising to 96,000 from the current 81,000. The new prisons would also have allowed closure of existing old facilities, some dating from the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
. The new facilities would also provide economies of scale in the construction and operation of the new prison places.
Criticisms
The plans were criticised over the availability of possible sites, and the possibility of planning delays and disputes. The programme has been planned with no formal consultation of key experts such as the Chief Inspector of Prisons or the Prison Governors Association. Organisations such as the
Howard League for Penal Reform
The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921, ...
have been leading the campaign against titan prisons.
The policy was also criticised for going against the established benefit of smaller prisons closer to prisoners' homes, allowing better interaction between prisoners and family/prison staff. Titan prisons could have been built on "brownfield sites" that supposedly would have "good transport links" so that families and friends will have "reasonably easy access to visit". However, what constituted "reasonably easy access" was open to debate and the needs of many prisoners' families, who may have been single parents on benefits - needed to be properly understood. Anne Owers, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “On the horizon loom the Titans – 2,500-strong prison complexes, flying in the face of our, and others’, evidence that smaller prisons work better than large ones. They may be more efficient, but at the cost of being less effective.” Paul Tidball, of the Prison Governors Association also criticised the plans: “We are under-whelmed by the case… Our instinct is that smaller is better.”
Security concerns were also raised, pointing out
Lord Woolf
Harry Kenneth Woolf, Baron Woolf, (born 2 May 1933) is a British life peer and retired barrister and judge. He was Master of the Rolls from 1996 until 2000 and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2000 until 2005. The Constitutional R ...
's report following the
1990 riots
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...
at
Manchester Prison (known as Strangeways at the time), recommending a maximum prison size of 400.
The staffing levels and regime within titan prisons was also called into question. The Ministry of Justice has stated that titans will "focus on the strong dynamic interaction between officers and prisoners" - vital in creating a regime that looks to cut reoffending. Dynamic security uses high staff to prisoner ratios and allows for relative freedom of movement. The opposite would be a prison that relies on barred gates and CCTV more than staff and where the emphasis is on control, monitoring and restriction of movement. Concerns have been raised over the government's plans for titans to include "new technology" such as "biometric scanning, bar coding, electronic door operation" which will "deliver significant staff savings". The prison design will also include "optimal sight lines" to "result in better staff utilisation".
Examples from abroad also showed failings in programmes similar to the proposed titans. Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, gave evidence to the House of Commons Justice Select Committee in December 2007, and said: “We assess every prison we inspect against our 4 tests of a good prison - that prisoners are held safely, treated with respect, engage in purposeful activity and are prepared for resettlement - and it is very evident, when we look at those assessments, that small prisons do better... That is because they provide an environment in which people are known, in which relationships can develop, in which people are often closer to home… In France, in 1992 it was decided to build a very large prison just outside Paris, a place called Fleury-Mérogis. That was to hold 2,800 people. It currently holds 3,600 people and the one thing the French have decided is they will never do it again…because they found that it could not be managed well.”
The
National Council of Independent Monitoring Boards
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also claimed that ministers have not explained why they would save money.
HMP Hewell
In January 2008 it was announced that the prisons HMP Blakenhurst, Brockhill and Hewell Grange will be merged into one, as a newly named 1,428 capacity prison,
HMP Hewell, due to be in place by April 2008.
HM Prison Service - News
, HM Prison Service, 07 Mar 2008. The three prisons are all sited on the estate of Hewell Grange a country house Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, and will not be demolished. Rather, several administrative and management functions will be merged for efficiency, along the Titan model.
See also
* United Kingdom prison population
The United Kingdom has three distinct legal systems with a separate prison system in each: one for both England and Wales, one for Scotland, and one for Northern Ireland.
Numbers of prisoners
The total UK prison population was 83,618 (0.088% of th ...
* His Majesty's Prison Service
His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...
* List of prisons in the United Kingdom
List of prisons in the United Kingdom is a list of all 141 current prisons as of 2022 in the United Kingdom spread across the three UK legal systems of England and Wales (122 prisons), Scotland, (15 prisons) and Northern Ireland (4 prisons). Al ...
* Howard League for Penal Reform
The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921, ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Lord Carter Report
archive copy
The Howard League for Penal Reform
Q&A: Crisis in prisons
BBC, 16 November 2007
Penal system in the United Kingdom
Prisons in the United Kingdom