By GB News (World News) | Created at 2025-03-28 09:51:15 | Updated at 2025-03-31 06:42:37
2 days ago
Labour has opened the first ever “green” all-electric mega-prison to house 1,500 inmates.
“Megaprison” HMP Millsike in East Yorkshire is set to become one of the UK’s biggest jails and the first of four to be built as part of the Government’s plans to create 14,000 additional prison places by 2031.
The all-electric facility, featuring solar panels and heat pump technology, has been constructed adjacent to the maximum-security HMP Full Sutton, which holds nearly 600 category A and B male inmates.
According to the Ministry of Justice, around 600 jobs have been created.
According to the Ministry of Justice, around 600 jobs have been created
PA
This comes as Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has re-implemented the use of police cells to hold inmates after prison occupancy reached a six-month high.
She said: “This government is fixing the broken prison system we inherited, delivering the cells needed to take the most dangerous criminals off our streets.
"HMP Millsike sets the standard for the jails of the future, with cutting crime built into its very fabric.
“But building jails only takes us so far in ending this crisis, which is why we’re also reviewing sentencing so we can always lock up dangerous offenders and make our streets safer.”
Official data indicates that the backlog in the crown court system has reached 74,651 cases, with projections suggesting it could increase to 100,000 by the end of 2029.
This comes as Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has re-implemented the use of police cells to hold inmates after prison occupancy reached a six-month high
PA
The government stated that these figures highlight "the scale of the crisis we inherited in our courts."
Earlier this year, preliminary findings from a review led by David Gauke, the former justice secretary, revealed that the prison population crisis stemmed from successive governments' desire to appear "tough on crime," despite evidence showing that harsh prison sentences do not effectively reduce crime.
HMP Millsike is part of the government's £2.3billion, 10-year prison capacity plan released in December, which aims to create 6,400 spaces through new houseblocks in existing prisons and 6,500 spaces by constructing new prisons.
It will have 24 workshops and training facilities aimed at rehabilitating offenders.
