New 'rapid deployment cells' built at HMP Norwich in bid to boost capacity
The cells have been rolled out as £38m worth of renovation works starts at the Victorian prison
Last updated 3rd Mar 2023
New quick-build cells have been rolled out at HMP Norwich in a bid to boost capacity at the Victorian prison.
48 'rapid deployment' cells have been constructed at the Norfolk prison, as part of a government project which will see 1,000 built at 18 sites across the country.
It comes as work started yesterday on a £38m renovation of the Elizabeth Fry wing at HMP Norwich.
When completed in 2025 it will create over 170 new jail cells at the category B facility.
Rapid deployment cells are designed to last 15 years and are meant as a stop-gap measures while prisons across the UK are expanded or renovated.
Minister for Prisons and Probation Damian Hinds said:
“Prison cells protect the public by making sure we have enough space to put dangerous offenders behind bars – that’s why we’re investing £4 billion to deliver 20,000 extra places.
“We’re rolling out a thousand Rapid Deployment Cells to create extra spaces quickly while we press ahead with the biggest expansion of prisons in over a century – building six new jails and creating thousands of additional cells by renovating and expanding existing sites.
“The first rapid cells at HMP Norwich are already boosting capacity while our multi-million-pound renovation of the Elizabeth Fry wing will create long-term places to protect the public.”