John Howell MP

21 FEB 2012

Clarity on Huntercombe role

I have sought to allay fears about another change to HMP Huntercombe. Huntercombe is the only prison in the Henley constituency. The prison was for many years a youth offending institution but in 2010 it was converted into a prison housing adult male category C prisoners. The Ministry of Justice has recently announced (February 2012) that the prison will go through a further change and will now be used to hold Foreign National Offenders prior to being removed, where appropriate, from the country.

This Government believes that foreign criminals should be returned to their home country at the earliest opportunity. Last year we removed more than 5,000 foreign criminals, 43 per cent by the end of their prison sentence. It make sense to bring these prisoners into one prison so that the UK Borders Agency can deal with individual cases more effectively and remove those that can be removed more quickly. Huntercombe is strategically placed near, for example, to Heathrow to help facilitate this. However, local residents have quite rightly, been keen to understand just what the implications will be for them and whether there will be any change in the level of security required around the prison. I have, therefore, sought assurance from the Ministry of Justice on these and related issues.

The Ministry of Justice has now confirmed that although the nationality of the prisoners housed at Huntercombe will change "there will be no change to the security classification of the establishment or the security categorisation of its prisoner population."

HMP Huntercombe is a Category C prison and will remain so. As such it will only be able to hold prisoners "who cannot be trusted in open conditions but who do not have the resources and will to make a determined escape attempt". There is no intention to house more prisoners there who have committed more serious crimes such as terrorism.

It is right that we should seek to deport foreign criminals as quickly as possible towards the end of their sentences. The system was so chaotic under the last Government that over 1,000 foreign national offenders were released without being considered for deportation. It makes sense to use Huntercombe for this purpose. However, I am pleases to have received the reassurance I asked for that this will not affect issues of security for those who live near the prison.

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Clarity on Huntercombe role

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