Titan prisons a 'massive mistake'

The 2,500-place jails would do little or nothing to cut crime and would instead "destabilise the criminal justice system for years to come", according to pressure group the Prison Reform Trust.

In a damning report, the campaigners accused ministers of failing adequately to consult on the plans and said it was not too late to abandon them in favour of alternative rehabilitation measures.

It is the second time this week the controversial prisons have come under attack - on Tuesday a prison watchdog said they would struggle to cope with the needs of different kinds of criminal in one jail.

The Prison Reform Trust report, Titan Prisons: A Gigantic Mistake, comes on the day a Government consultation on how they might work comes to a close. It analyses data from the Chief Inspector of Prisons comparing small and large prisons against more than 150 factors used to assess safe and effective jails. In 102 of the 154 measures, small prisons scored higher than large ones - including 19 of the 24 factors concerning safety.

Plans for the three Titan jails, far larger than existing prisons, were announced last year following an independent review by Lord Carter.

But the report is highly critical of the peer's approach and says the outcome may have been predetermined from the outset. Only 17 of the 51 organisations Lord Carter met during the review were asked about Titan jails, the report says, of which five were government departments and nine were private companies such as construction firms and private prison operators. It also highlights concerns on cost, saying that the construction estimates have already risen from £350 million to £450 million each.

Prison Reform Trust director Juliet Lyon said: "The Government is on the verge of making a massive, costly and hugely damaging mistake that will destabilise the criminal justice system for years to come.

"Giant US-style prisons may be easier to build but all the evidence here and abroad says the price we would pay in running them, and in higher re-offending rates, is far too high. If ministers want prisons to be focused on rehabilitation, rather than warehousing offenders until they are released, then it is not too late to make these plans disappear as fast as they appeared."

Prisons Minister David Hanson said: "Our first priority is protecting the public, and we are committed to providing enough prison places for those who should be behind bars - the most dangerous, serious and persistent offenders. We believe Titan prison complexes are an essential part of a modernised prison estate, that they will be the most effective way of providing value for money for taxpayers and of keeping them safe by reducing re-offending."