| Statutory Instrument | |
 | |
| Citation | SI 2014/3 |
|---|---|
| Introduced by | Jeremy Wright, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice |
| Dates | |
| Made | 6 January 2014 |
| Commencement | 31 January 2014 |
Status: Spent | |
| Text of the Closure of Prisons Order 2014 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
The Closure of Prisons Order 2014 is a statutory instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The order closed several prisons in England.
In 2013 and 2014, the UK coalition government undertook a programme of policies which Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said would "modernise our prisons, bring down costs, ... [and] make sure that ... we still have access to more prison places than we inherited in 2010". [1] This included closing a number of prisons in what Channel 4 called "the biggest prison closure programme in decades", as well as building a new 'super-prison'. [2] Proposals to close small prisons in favour of new super-prisons were compared to the Brown government's planned Titan prisons. [2] [3]
In January 2013, Grayling announced plans to close seven prisons: HM Prison Bullwood Hall in Essex, HM Prison Camp Hill on the Isle of Wight, HM Prison Canterbury in Kent, HM Prison Gloucester in Gloucestershire, HM Prison Kingston in Portsmouth, HM Prison Shepton Mallet in Somerset, and HM Prison Shrewsbury in Shropshire. [4] At the time, BBC News reported that a further five prisons would be closed by January 2014. [5]
In September 2013, Grayling announced that Blundeston, Dorchester, Northallerton and Reading prisons would close and that HM Prison The Verne would be closed and converted into an immigration detention centre. [1]
The provisions of the order include:
The chair of the Prison Officers Association, Peter McParlin, said that the prison closures were "cuts-driven" and would result in prison officers working in "overcrowded and violent" institutions. [8]
Peter Aldous, the MP for Waveney, opposed the closure of HM Prison Blundeston and called on the Ministry of Justice to publish the report on which the decision was based. [9] Labour politician Bob Blizzard called the closure of Blundeston a "panic measure" to help the government's economic plans and criticised the fact that the prison had been newly refurbished. [10]
Plans to close HM Prison Dorchester were opposed by Richard Drax who said that the savings the government was hoping to make were "a false economy" due to Dorset probation officers having to go to Exeter to meet with prisoners. [11]
The prison sites were mostly sold by the Ministry of Justice. Northallerton was taken over by Hambleton District Council and redeveloped, [12] Dorchester and Blundeston were sold to housing developers in 2014 and 2016 respectively, [13] [14] and Reading was sold to an educational charity in 2024. [15] The Verne prison was re-opened in July 2018 as a prison for sex offenders. [16]
Christopher Stephen Grayling, Baron Grayling,, is a British politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Justice from 2012 to 2015, Leader of the House of Commons from 2015 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Transport from 2016 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Epsom and Ewell from 2001 to 2024. Before entering politics, Grayling worked in the television and film industry.
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its 520-hectare (1,300-acre) surface area made it the largest human-made harbour in the world, and it remains one of the largest in the world today. It is naturally sheltered by Portland to the south, Chesil Beach to the west and mainland Dorset to the north. It consists of four breakwaters: two southern and two northern. These have a total length of 4.57 km (2.84 mi) and enclose approximately 1,000 ha of water.
Feltham Young Offenders Institution is a prison for male juveniles and Young Offenders Institution, occupying 0.184 square kilometres south-west of Feltham in the London Borough of Hounslow, in west London, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison The Verne is a Category C men's prison located within the historic Verne Citadel on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. Operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, HMP The Verne was established in 1949 and occupies the southern part of the citadel. After a brief spell as an Immigration Removal Centre in 2014–2017, HMP The Verne re-opened in 2018.
HMP Weare was an Adult Male/Category C prison ship berthed in Portland Harbour in Dorset, England. It was the latest in a lengthy history of British prison ships, which included HMS Maidstone, used as a prison during Operation Demetrius in the 1970s, HMS Argenta, in use as a prison in the 1920s, and a long list of British prison hulks dating from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century.
HM Prison Reading, popularly known as Reading Gaol, is a former prison located in Reading, Berkshire, England. The prison was operated by His Majesty's Prison Service until its closure at the start of 2014. It is a Grade II listed building and sits on the site of Reading Abbey.
HM Prison Kirklevington Grange is a Category D men's prison, located in the village of Kirklevington, in North Yorkshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Peterborough is a Category B private prison for men, and a closed prison for women and female young offenders, located in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The prison is operated by Sodexo Justice Services, and is the only dual purpose-built prison holding males and females in the United Kingdom. The prison, which has a population of around 1,100 inmates, comprises four large wings, each with a separate housing arrangement for female detainees and male detainees. It is managed by the Newton Secure Training Centre (NSTC), and the associated training centre, which operates under Sodexo Services, comprises 26 housing units, ranging from 12-storey purpose built units to 10-storey semiprivate accommodation units.
HMP Hull is a Category B men's local prison located in Kingston upon Hull in England. The term 'local' means that this prison holds people on remand to the local courts. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Northallerton was a prison in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England. It operated from 1788 until December 2013. During that time, it variously housed male and female adult prisoners, women with children, youth offenders, and military prisoners. Latterly Her Majesty's Prison Service struggled to keep the old prison operating to modern standards, and citing the costs of doing so and the relatively small size of the institution, it closed the prison in 2014. The prison was bought by Hambleton District Council, which is currently redeveloping the site.
HM Prison Glen Parva was an adult male prison and Young Offenders Institution, located in Glen Parva, Leicestershire, England. Glen Parva was operated by His Majesty's Prison Service from 1974 to 2017; from July 2011 onwards, it was an adult and young offenders institution.
HM Prison Bullwood Hall is a former Category C women's prison and Young Offenders Institution, located in Hockley, Essex, England. The prison was operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Kingston is a former Category B/C men's prison, located in the Kingston area of Portsmouth, in Hampshire, England. Prior to closure, the prison was operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service. In 2020, work began to convert the site to residential use.
HM Prison Blundeston was a Category C men's prison, located in the Village of Blundeston in Suffolk, England. The prison was operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service, and closed in January 2014.
HM Prison Portland is a male Adult/Young Offenders Institution in the village of The Grove on the Isle of Portland, in Dorset, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison was originally opened in 1848 as an adult convict establishment, before becoming a Borstal in 1921, and a YOI in 1988. In 2011 it became an Adult/Young Offenders establishment.
HM Prison Wellingborough was a Category C men's prison, located in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. The prison was previously operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service and was retained as reserve site for use in the event of other prisons being at capacity. HM Prison Five Wells was built on the site of the prison following its demolition in 2019.
HM Prison Hewell is a multiple security category men's prison in the village of Tardebigge in Worcestershire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Dorchester was a local men's prison, located in Dorchester in Dorset, England. The prison was operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and closed in January 2014.
HM Prison Gloucester was a Category B men's prison located in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. It was originally opened in 1792, on the site of Gloucester Castle whose keep had been used as a prison.
Church of Our Lady and St Andrew is a former Roman Catholic church in The Grove, on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The church is now in private ownership.