Welsh prisoners in the prison estate : follow-up, ninth report of session 2009-10, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

There is a pressing need for more prison places in Wales.

There are only four prisons in Wales, all of which are in South Wales.

There is little provision for juvenile and young offenders, and there are no prisons at all for women.

The Committee was disappointed when the Ministry of Justice withdrew from the proposed prison development near Caernarfon.

The Government's intention to consider alternative sites in regions across England and Wales means that North Wales can no longer be assured of securing a prison.

This is a backward step when there is a pressing need for the immediate creation of prison facilities in North Wales.

The Government should give priority to identifying a site in North Wales.

While the main requirement of a prison in North Wales would be to house male prisoners, this is also an opportunity to create provision for female prisoners and young prisoners.

There is a tension between the size of the prison needed to accommodate prisoners from North Wales and the Government's intention to build prisons of 1,500 places.

North Wales should not be denied a prison it so badly needs due to a rigid policy on size on the part of the Ministry of Justice. The Committee urges the Government to be flexible in its approach, which would be consistent with the considered views expressed in recent reports by the Justice Select Committee.