Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab announced details of the expansion plan which forms part of the government’s £4bn investment plans.
Subject to planning permission, eight prisons will receive new house blocks, while HMP High Down in Surrey will get a brand-new workshop.
Seven other prisons will also receive comprehensive refurbishments, as part of a wider £150 million investment in the estate to help bring all jails into the 21st century.
All plans to refurbish and expand existing jails will be subject to planning permissions but the department already has planning for five of the prisons, HMPs Stocken, Guys Marsh, High Down, Birmingham and Liverpool.
Prison upgrade plan
- Sites due to get extra houseblocks are HMPs Bullingdon, Channings Wood, Elmley, Highpoint, Hindley, Wayland, Guys Marsh, High Down and Stocken.
- The seven refurbishment sites are HMPs Norwich, Feltham, Aylesbury, Haverigg and Swinfen Hall, Liverpool and Birmingham.
The innovative designs will mean easier access to supporting facilities such as healthcare, kitchens and staff offices which will help to protect frontline staff and clamp down on crime behind bars.
New workshops and classrooms will also see offenders getting vital work and training so they are able to find employment on release.
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, said: “Our unprecedented prison-building programme is the largest in more than a century and will deliver an additional 20,000 prison places by the mid-2020s.”
Construction at two new prisons, which are part of the Deputy Prime Minister’s commitment to build 6 modern jails, has already created more than 500 jobs and over 70 apprenticeships
