Prison Accommodation: Closures
(asked on 17th March 2026) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison places have been closed due to reasons concerning (a) health and safety, (b) security, (c) resources and (d) physical conditions in each year since 2010, broken down by location.
The information requested has been provided in the table below. Please note that, since 2010, 23 prisons (7519 places) have been permanently closed. The site-specific reasons for closure vary, but in the main these prisons were assessed as old and uneconomic and the decision to close was based on the suitability, sustainability and the cost of running and maintaining these prisons. For the purposes of the breakdown in the table below, these full prison closures have been identified as “physical conditions”
Some of the places included on the list below as closed due to physical conditions have either been, or are due to be, returned following refurbishment. This includes places removed at Liverpool, Birmingham, Haverigg ,Feltham and Swinfen Hall.
Year | Prison | (a) health & safety | (b) security | (c) resources | (d) physical conditions | Total |
2011 | Ashwell* |
|
|
| -214 | -214 |
| Brockhill (Hewell)* |
|
|
| -170 | -170 |
| Lancaster Castle* |
|
|
| -243 | -243 |
| Latchmere House* |
|
|
| -207 | -207 |
2011 Total |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | -834 | -834 |
2012 | Wellingborough* |
|
|
| -588 | -588 |
2012 Total |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | -588 | -588 |
2013 | Blundeston* |
|
|
| -526 | -526 |
| Bullwood Hall* |
|
|
| -228 | -228 |
| Camp Hill (IoW)* |
|
|
| -595 | -595 |
| Canterbury* |
|
|
| -314 | -314 |
| Dorchester* |
|
|
| -291 | -291 |
| Gloucester* |
|
|
| -321 | -321 |
| Kingston* |
|
|
| -205 | -205 |
| Northallerton* |
|
|
| -252 | -252 |
| Reading* |
|
|
| -320 | -320 |
| Shepton Mallet* |
|
|
| -189 | -189 |
| Shrewsbury* |
|
|
| -341 | -341 |
2013 Total |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | -3582 | -3582 |
2014 | Feltham |
|
|
| -112 | -112 |
2014 Total |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | -112 | -112 |
2015 | Blantyre House* |
|
|
| -122 | -122 |
| Dover* |
|
|
| -401 | -401 |
| Feltham |
|
|
| -36 | -36 |
| Haslar* |
|
|
| -197 | -197 |
| Rochester |
|
|
| -60 | -60 |
2015 Total |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | -816 | -816 |
2016 | Haverigg |
| -335 |
|
| -335 |
| Hindley | -28 |
|
|
| -28 |
| Holloway* |
|
|
| -591 | -591 |
| Kennet* |
|
|
| -342 | -342 |
2016 Total |
| -28 | -335 | 0 | -933 | -1296 |
2017 | Glen Parva* |
|
|
| -638 | -638 |
| Guys Marsh |
|
|
| -66 | -66 |
| Liverpool |
|
|
| -172 | -172 |
| Rochester |
|
|
| -60 | -60 |
| Swinfen Hall |
|
|
| -30 | -30 |
2017 Total |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | -966 | -966 |
2018 | Birmingham |
|
|
| -306 | -306 |
| Haverigg |
|
|
| -40 | -40 |
| Liverpool |
|
|
| -234 | -234 |
2018 Total |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | -580 | -580 |
2019 | Aylesbury |
|
|
| -235 | -235 |
| Birmingham |
|
|
| -167 | -167 |
| Hindley | -28 |
|
|
| -28 |
| Swinfen Hall |
|
|
| -30 | -30 |
2019 Total |
| -28 | 0 | 0 | -432 | -460 |
2020 | Haverigg | -80 |
|
|
| -80 |
| Hewell Grange* |
|
|
| -224 | -224 |
| Spring Hill | -35 |
|
|
| -35 |
| Erlestoke | -80 |
|
|
| -80 |
| Ford | -96 |
|
|
| -96 |
| Foston Hall | -80 |
|
|
| -80 |
| Kirkham | -80 |
|
|
| -80 |
| Kirklevington Grange | -120 |
|
|
| -120 |
| Littlehey | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| Norwich | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| Standford Hill | -24 |
|
|
| -24 |
| Wayland | -80 |
|
|
| -80 |
2020 Total |
| -755 | 0 | 0 | -224 | -979 |
2021 | Spring Hill | -45 |
|
|
| -45 |
| Channings Wood | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| Ford | -179 |
|
|
| -179 |
| Hatfield | -80 |
|
|
| -80 |
| Highpoint | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| Hollesley Bay | -80 |
|
|
| -80 |
| Leyhill | -80 |
|
|
| -80 |
| Low Newton | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| New Hall | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| North Sea Camp | -120 |
|
|
| -120 |
| Northumberland | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| Prescoed | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| Send | -80 |
|
|
| -80 |
| Standford Hill | -56 |
|
|
| -56 |
| Sudbury | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| Whatton | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| Wymott | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
2021 Total |
| -1080 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1080 |
2022 | Bedford |
|
|
| -32 | -32 |
| Eastwood Park | -20 |
|
|
| -20 |
| Guys Marsh | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| Spring Hill | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
| Highpoint | -40 |
|
|
| -40 |
2022 Total |
| -140 | 0 | 0 | -32 | -172 |
2023 | Deerbolt |
|
|
| -19 | -19 |
| Gartree | -3 |
|
|
| -3 |
| Isle of Wight |
|
|
| -52 | -52 |
| Leicester | -6 |
|
|
| -6 |
2023 Total |
| -9 | 0 | 0 | -71 | -80 |
2024 | Deerbolt |
|
|
| -20 | -20 |
| Dartmoor** | -640 |
|
|
| -640 |
| Elmley | -114 |
|
|
| -114 |
| Gartree | -6 |
|
|
| -6 |
| Hull | -2 |
|
|
| -2 |
2024 Total |
| -762 | 0 | 0 | -20 | -782 |
2025 | Eastwood Park | -20 |
|
|
| -20 |
2025 Total |
| -20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -20 |
Total |
| -2822 | -335 | 0 | -9190 | -1247 |
*- Full Prison Closure | ||||||
** - Dartmoor has been temporarily closed since 2024 due to radon levels, assessment of options for this site is ongoing. | ||||||