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Home Office plans floating jails Home Office plans floating jails
(about 2 hours later)
The Home Office is moving ahead with plans to use prison ships to ease overcrowding in prisons. Home Secretary John Reid has been accused of panic measures over plans to use prison ships to ease overcrowding in jails in England and Wales.
Britain's last floating prison - HMP Weare, moored at Portland Harbour in Dorset - closed last year. The government has advertised for contractors to provide up to 800 places on ships.
The government has advertised for contractors to provide up to 800 places on ships in England and Wales. Prison charities said the ships would not meet inmates' needs and Mr Reid would be to blame for people coming out of jail and committing more crimes.
The move comes as the first prisoners were moved into designated police cells as part of the plans to alleviate the overcrowding crisis. Critics say ministers are lurching from one stop-gap solution to another.
If you use ships and prison cells which are not appropriate for dealing with prisoners' needs many of them will come out and commit more crimes Frances Crook, Howard League for Penal Reform The news comes as the Home Offices says 47 prisoners have been moved into designated police cells to alleviate the overcrowding crisis.
Former prisons minister Ann Widdecombe, who oversaw the commissioning of HMP Weare in 1997, told the BBC the government had seen the crisis coming "for a long time and they have failed to act". Britain's last floating prison - HMP Weare moored at Portland Harbour in Dorset - closed last year after the chief inspector of prisoners described the vessel as "unsuitable, expensive and in the wrong place".
The Home Office has refused to disclose why HMP Weare was sold to a shipbroker.
'One crisis to another'
The director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, Frances Crook, warned that plans to return to using prison ships could stoke reoffending.
Ms Crook said: "If you use ships and prison cells which are not appropriate for dealing with prisoners' needs many of them will come out and commit more crimes. So the home secretary will be responsible for more crimes.
"I want to see him supporting successful community sentences. It's not the whole answer but is a step in the right direction."
ANN WIDDECOMBE'S SUGGESTIONS The government could commission more prison shipsThey could re-open wings of prisons which had been mothballedDisused holiday camps could be used Army barracks could also be pressed into service Send us your views
And Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "It seems to be just lurching from one crisis to another.
"This really feels a bit like the last straw; to have a home secretary out shopping for ships, or shoe-horning prisoners into police cells, instead of really looking at the problem."
Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker told BBC News Mr Reid was considering all options.
"What he's determined to do is to ensure we've got sufficient prison places, and obviously, he's looking at a number of ways of doing that and a prison ship is one possibility," said Mr Coaker.
Holiday camp idea
Ex-Prisons Minister Ann Widdecombe, who oversaw the commissioning of HMP Weare in 1997, told the BBC the government had seen the crisis coming "for a long time and they have failed to act".
She said she would not have decommissioned HMP Weare - and would have in fact commissioned another prison ship.She said she would not have decommissioned HMP Weare - and would have in fact commissioned another prison ship.
Britain's only prison ship closed in August 2005, amid controversy after Chief Inspector of Prisons Ann Owers described the vessel, then based in Portland, Dorset, as "unsuitable, expensive and in the wrong place". Ms Widdecombe said as well as purchasing "Portakabins from Norwegian oil rigs", the Conservative government had also considered using an empty holiday camp during her time in office.
HMP Weare was sold last August to a ship broker, the Home Office said. They refused to disclose why it had been sold. More than 500 police cells could eventually be used
'Necessary and pragmatic' "You have the accommodation already - all you have to do is create a secure perimeter and you have a medium-security prison," she said.
Ms Widdecombe said as well as purchasing "Portakabins from Norwegian oil rigs", the Conservative government also considered using an empty holiday camp during her time in office.
"You have the accommodation already - all you have to do is create a secure perimeter and you have a medium-security prison."
Brian Caton, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, told the BBC that lowering the prison population was the best option.Brian Caton, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, told the BBC that lowering the prison population was the best option.
"It seems to me that once again we're jumping from crisis to crisis, because we seem unable to make things right and the home secretary and his predecessors certainly have made a mess of the prison system," he said.
Home Office minister Vernon Coaker told the BBC the home secretary was considering all options.
ANN WIDDECOMBE'S SUGGESTIONS The government could commission more prison shipsThey could re-open wings of prisons which had been mothballedDisused holiday camps could be used Army barracks could also be pressed into service Send us your views
"What he's determined to do is to ensure we've got sufficient prison places, and obviously, he's looking at a number of ways of doing that and a prison ship is one possibility."
Juliet Lyon, the director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "It seems to be just lurching from one crisis to another. This really feels a bit like the last straw; to have a home secretary out shopping for ships, or shoe-horning prisoners into police cells, instead of really looking at the problem."
The Home Office said 47 inmates were being housed in cells under Operation Safeguard. Home Secretary John Reid accepted the move was "necessary and pragmatic". But the Conservatives labelled it a "short-term and costly measure".
Nineteen police forces have made about 240 cells available.
The director of the Howard League for Penal Reform has criticised the Home Office's decision to advertise for spaces on ships and warned it could lead to more prisoner re-offending.
Jails badly affected
Frances Crook said: "If you use ships and prison cells which are not appropriate for dealing with prisoners' needs many of them will come out and commit more crimes. So the Home Secretary will be responsible for more crimes.
"I want to see him supporting successful community sentences. It's not the whole answer but is a step in the right direction."
The jail population has reached 79,714 - 65 below the all-time high of two weeks ago.The jail population has reached 79,714 - 65 below the all-time high of two weeks ago.
But using police cells became necessary last weekend because jails in some parts of the country have been more badly affected than others.But using police cells became necessary last weekend because jails in some parts of the country have been more badly affected than others.
More than 500 police cells could eventually be used
The Home Office spokeswoman said there was potential for 520 police cells to be used during October and November if they were needed.The Home Office spokeswoman said there was potential for 520 police cells to be used during October and November if they were needed.
But shadow home secretary David Davis said the measures would only buy the government a few weeks and would "place even more burdens on our police".But shadow home secretary David Davis said the measures would only buy the government a few weeks and would "place even more burdens on our police".
Operation Safeguard was last used in 2002, when 275 prisoners were placed in police cells as a result of an overcrowding crisis - 72,000 were in prisons in England Wales. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said the government's position was farcical.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said: "Prison cells are enormously expensive, and looking after prisoners will be a huge distraction for the police." The government had sat on its hands for years despite warnings and was in a fix of its own making, argued Mr Clegg.