Extra prison cells to be added to HMP The Verne
The MOJ's been given permission for 40 new 'temporary spaces'
Extra cells have been approved on the Verne Prison site.
The Ministry of Justice describe the extra 40 spaces as “temporary” in their planning application to Dorset Council, which also includes a new multi-use games area.
Papers with the application describe the structure for the category C training prison as “rapid deployment cells”, part of a national strategy to add 1,000 temporary cells to the prison estate while permanent ones are constructed.
The Ministry say the new cells at the Verne, on an existing sports pitch to the southern side of the Citadel, are only intended to be used for five years, together with ancillary spaces for laundry, cooking facilities, offices and storage.
They will be arranged in a ‘C’ shape around a central courtyard which will be used for exercise with each of the modular units two storeys tall.
'A small but valuable contribution'
The Ministry say the Verne site has been chosen because it is “generally discrete within the prison complex, notably being located between two large, modern prison buildings, on lower land already enclosed by security fencing…
“This will make a small yet valuable contribution to HMPPS’s short-term needs whilst permanent facilities are developed across the country,” said the Ministry of Justice.
A new multi-use games area will be built on underused land next to the perimeter line on the eastern side of the prison which is currently hard standing and grassland with some storage containers.
No local objections
Portland Town Council supported the application in its feedback on the proposals to Dorset Council.
Dorset Council planning officers concluded that the additional cells were acceptable and appropriate, screened by adjacent buildings, with sufficient parking already on the site to cope with the expansion.
In a statement to Parliament last year the Ministry of Justice said that the prison population is forecast to rise significantly during the 2020s, reaching nearly 100,000 by 2030, “putting sustained pressure on the estate over the next decade and beyond.”
It said that an extra 20,000 prison places would be delivered to address this pressure, the majority through new prisons, expansions, and refurbishment of the existing estate.
It said the 1,000 rapid deployment cells, for existing Category C & D prisons, would address a predicted capacity deficit in the short term.