If Britain needs more prisons, fine, build them, what's the problem ?

Answer 1

Money is of course a huge issue, prison is the most expensive form of punishment costing over £30,000 per prisoner per year (substantially more than rehabilitation or counselling). This probably isn't the biggest concern for the government though.

If they do not imprison people then they don't count as prisoners and the prison levels look lower, if they start building more prisons it is immediately obvious that the crime rates have increased, even though this may be true the government is desperate to not make it obvious to the public. More prisons will only highlight the increasing levels of crime.

Answer 2

the land 2 build them on?

some R being built, but it's a mixture of young offenders units & detention centre/prisons,
& obviously not quickly enough 4 us!

i think it's some top civil-servants, thinking/knowing their jobs R at risk, R plain & simply being awkward.
Probably stalling, paper-shuffling & using red tape, while some1 above them creams the Interest from Government building funds.
Just a idea.
Could B wrong
& it is where R they going 2 put these new prisons?

Answer 3

I'd agree, money is the issue here. With more and more facilities across the board needing to be built, ( I'm talking about everything, power plants, waste camps for those power plants, government buidlings, larger cities, and of course prisons) room is being pressed to the edge.

On top of that, the percentage of prisoners are either staying the same (It still means more prisoners due to the fact that the population increasing) or the percentage is increasing.

My point is that soon enough, youll need to spend more money to keep criminals from doing criminal things to free up prison room.

Answer 4

Because the Liberals are more interested in rehabilitation. I think prison should be for punishment. Once you focus on rehabilitating prisoners, you take responsibility away from them for their own behaviour. So, if they re-offend, they can blame the State for failing to rehabilitate them. It then becomes a vicious circle. Prison regimes are obviously too slack as well. This allows Liberals to claim that prison doesn't work, which becomes self-fulfilling, and appears to justify pushing the rehabilitation concept a little further, ultimately, toward de-criminalising many crimes currently on the statute book. Meanwhile, Government will enact and place more 'Politically Incorrect' crimes onto the statute book.

Answer 5

I agree. The solution is not to release people early with tags on (which we are told can be removed). Why can we find money to give benefits to the hoardes which are pouring into this country? The money is there; it's just being spent unwisely. I think it's very important that we have sufficient prison space to house offenders. We need to feel safe in our own homes.

Answer 6

I woulndn't say money as england has quite a considereable amount already. But planning permission is hard to get for a prison as not alot of people want to live by one, for obvious reason and there is a lack of staff to man to prisons, they are thinking of giving out more comminity services instead of prison.

Hope this helps.

Answer 7

Money and the fact of where to build them. Most people don't want a prison in their back yard.

Answer 8

Firstly, you will have to deal with the NIMBY brigade - not in my back yard. Would you like a prison close to your home. Secondly, it is not so much the buildings that cost so much, it is the salaries of the Prison Officers. Instead, we will get loads of short term solutions, such as, early release, no prison for non-violent cases, more probation and more community service orders. You then get the council workers refusing to 'allow' those serving such orders to 'take over' any of their work. No sight of a solution in sight.................

Answer 9

The Treasury - it insists that all additional prisons are PFI / PPP projects with the private sector and these take an inordinate amount of time due to the legal complexity.

Answer 10

I'm sure Labour will think of SOME reason why they can't deliver on this one.... I, myself, would implement forced labour as part of a community service order, or start using the "hard-working, cheerful" immigrants to set the jails up. Chances are the prisoners will riot anyway as we can only afford to provide them with Playstation 1 games (instead of PS2) and five TV channels in their cells.