HMP Millsike is the first of four new jails to be built as part of the Plan for Change to create 14,000 extra prison places by 2031. This extra capacity will help put more violent offenders behind bars, make streets safer and ensure the country never runs out of cells again.
Last summer, the government inherited a prisons system days away from collapse which would have left police unable to take dangerous criminals off the streets.
Ms Mahmood said the opening marked another milestone in her work to get a grip of the prisons crisis that has dominated her first nine months in post.
As a Category C prison, HMP Millsike has been designed with a clear aim – cutting crime. It includes 24 workshops and training facilities aimed at getting offenders into work on release and away from crime for good so fewer people become victims in the future. Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, said:
“This Government is fixing the broken prison system we inherited, delivering the cells needed to take the most dangerous criminals off our streets.
HMP Millsike sets the standard for the jails of the future, with cutting crime built into its very fabric. It is a huge step in our plan to add 14,000 extra prison places by 2031.
But building jails only takes us so far in ending this crisis, which is why we’re also reviewing sentencing so we can always lock up dangerous offenders and make our streets safer.”
The prison is the size of 39 football pitches and comes fitted top-to-bottom with security technology to combat the drugs, drones and phones that have plagued prisons in recent years and risked the safety of frontline officers.
