MP Daniel Kawczynski calls for urgent talks over Dana prison closure

Daniel Kawczynski MP said: “I have, during my time as Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury and Atcham, taken a great interest in the running of Shrewsbury’s prison and have been impressed by the standards of care, particularly in areas such as drug rehabilitation. I must congratulate Governor Gerry Hendry on his commitment to the establishment and today’s announcement has come as huge blow.

“The closure will have a detrimental effect on the economy and I am seeking to enter into talks with Jeremy Wright to challenge the rationale behind the decision.

“There will be people living in neighbouring Shropshire constituencies that are employed at the prison that will be affected by the closure. As such I will be approaching my fellow Shropshire MP’s to take part in discussions with the Minister.”

Around 300 prisoners are currently housed at the Shrewsbury site with around 200 staff members employed.

The National Offender Management Service has stated that they will do everything possible to avoid compulsory redundancies as a result of the closures throughout the country. They are seeking to redeploy 206 directly employed staff at HMP Shrewsbury and by using the voluntary Early Departure Scheme where appropriate.

Other prisons earmarked for closure are HMP Canterbury, Bullwood Hall, Gloucester, Kingston and Shepton Mallett with the part closure of HMP Chelmsford, Hull and Isle of Wight.

Replacing the six closing sites would be a new prison which could hold more than 2,000 prisoners – around a quarter more than the largest current facility. The new prison is likely to be in London, the North West or North Wales.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: “We 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.

“At present, we have buildings within the prison estate which date back to the 18th Century. Prisons are not all located where we would want them to be to best meet the needs of the courts or support resettlement and there is an annual maintenance cost of approximately £184m. There is clear evidence that by replacing old uneconomic places with modern prison capacity we can drive substantial savings for the taxpayer and I am determined to do just that.

“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.”