|
|
Rt. Hon. Sir Alan Beith MPLiberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Berwick Upon TweedWorking for you and the Berwick upon Tweed Constituency all year roundin Northumberland and in Westminster |
|
Government still on course for Titanic prison population - Beith
April 28, 2009 10:30 AM
Berwick's Liberal Democrat MP Sir Alan Beith has welcomed the Government announcement to scrap plans to build the so-called Titan prisons, which would have put 2500 prisoners together in massive establishments.
Alan Beith, who chairs the House of Commons Justice Committee, said:
"As a Committee we have repeatedly said that the Government's focus on huge public investment in building more prison places in a few "mega-prisons" is a risky strategy, based on a flimsy evidence base.
"However, I am concerned that today's proposals demonstrate that this Government is still committed to achieving the highest prison population in western Europe.
"The alternative proposals are still based on massive expansion of prison places predicted to cost an estimated additional £490 million per year just to run, on top of the capital costs to build. Evidence to our current inquiry into Justice Reinvestment suggests that there is a lot of support for this money being spent on alternatives to prison that have greater potential to reduce crime and re-offending."
As part of the Committee's research, Sir Alan Beith has spoken to many people involved in the prisons system including prison officers. He is also in touch regularly with HMP Acklington and Castington Young Offenders' Institution, both of which are in the Berwick upon Tweed constituency.
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats
-
Help out or donate
-
Tell us what you think