Nacro and Group 4 bid for prisons

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

The crime reduction charity Nacro, which has warned about the UK becoming the "prisons capital of Europe", is putting in a bid to run two new prisons in Merseyside and London, working with the private security company Group 4 Securicor. Also involved in the bid is a construction company and a drugs charity.

Last week Nacro warned the Justice Secretary Jack Straw that proposals to build three 2,500-bed Titan jails could leave Britain the "prisons capital of Europe". Nacro said the plans would damage efforts to take criminals away from a life of crime and exacerbate mental health problems in jails.

Nacro's chief executive Paul Cavadino said "The risk is that resources to improve prisoners’ rehabilitation will be squeezed by a strategy of prison expansion."

On the bid for the new Maghull and Belmarsh West prisons, due to be finished by 2010, Cavadino said that while he understood there may be raised eyebrows about the charity and Group 4 Securicor working together to run them, the arrangement could help offenders.

"If we're both involved in working together on the design, planning and regime of a new prison, it increases the chances that [the] regime will be one which helps to reduce re-offending by resettling prisoners effectively," Cavadino said.

The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (acevo) has expressed delight at the Nacro bid.

Chief executive Stephen Bubb said: "This is a great testament to the professionalism in our sector. The third sector has a long history of working closely with offenders. Running prisons is the next logical step for the sector and shows that we have the strength to deliver mainstream public services."