Accusation that Wales is being turned into a penal colony for English prisoners

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Prison Reform, has claimed that Wales has become a dumping ground for English prisoners. She pointed out that the HMP Berwyn super prison in Wrexham, has less than 10% of the current inmates who are Welsh. A large 1,600 capacity category C prison on Baglan Moors, Port Talbot, South Wales is  also now also planned. As reported in the Welsh newspaper the Daily Post she said: "If there is going to be this money spent in Wales it should be spent on social issues and crime prevention.”

In the same article Arfon Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales thought Frances Cook had made a valid point and that there needs to be a stop to building prisons in Wales. He said:

 “I do have sympathy with Frances Cook’s concerns about the scale of what’s being proposed.

“The planned superprison in Port Talbot is much bigger than you would ever need to meet local demand and there are already other prisons in South Wales so I can fully understand why people there are unhappy about the prospect of it being built.

“Similarly, we have known from the outset that HMP Berwyn was built to cater for prisoners from outside Wales as well as those from this area.

“My colleague Bethan Jenkins AM and others are also opposing the Port Talbot prison on similar grounds to what Frances is saying. We have enough prisons in Wales and we don’t need any more.”