Open prison shut down as inmates found in ‘squalor’
A19TH century country house being used as an open prison where inmates were living in squalor is to be shut down.
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told MPs the decision had been made to close the open facility at HMP Hewell near Redditch, known as The Grange, and holding some 200 prisoners, because it was “not fit for use”.
A prison service spokesman confirmed the decision, saying the “current condition is unacceptable and refurbishing it would not deliver value for the taxpayer”.
Last month inspectors said there was a “marked decline” at both sites of the prison in Worcestershire.
One part is a category B men’s prison, built in 2008, holding around 870 inmates while around half a mile away the other is a grade II-listed building used as an open facility which can hold to 209 prisoners, a quarter of whom were described as a risk to others and 20 per cent of whom were members of organised crime gangs.
The chief inspector of prisons Peter Clarke said his findings were “worrying”, and in the open part of the prison “living conditions were the worst I have seen in this type of establishment”.
He added: “There will need to be significant investment to restore the building to anything like acceptable conditions.
“In the meantime, I can only describe it as squalid, demeaning and depressing.”
In his report, Mr Clarke said the dormitories the men were living in were “untidy, dirty” and full of food waste, dirty clothing and other rubbish while some of the toilets and showers were “filthy”.
“The poor living conditions were compounded by the fact that the establishment was failing in its core purpose as an open prison”, he added.
At the time Phil Copple, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) director general for prisons, said the concerns raised about the living conditions at the open site were “particularly worrying, and we will ensure those are addressed.”
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it was working “actively to avoid” compulsory or voluntary redundancies and did not anticipated these would be necessary because of the closure, which is expected to take place by March 2020.
Inmates not released before this time will be sent to other prisons.
Some of them will most likely be taken to HMP Haverigg in Cumbria, which is due to become an open prison later this year and is set to double its capacity from 268 to 570.
During the discussion Mr Buckland and the MoJ’s permanent secretary Sir Richard Heaton were pressed on the Government’s recent pledge to spend £2.5 billion providing 10,000 prison places and whether this was a political “gimmick”.
Denying this, Mr Buckland said: “I haven’t come into this high office to deliver gimmicks; I want to do actually do something for the long term.
“I want to build the sort of prisons where the next generation say we did the right thing and leave a proper legacy for the penal system.
“This isn’t for Christmas, life.”
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