'Ill-judged' prison expansion sparks warning over numbers

WALES' unwanted title as the nation with the highest “in-country” imprisonment rate in western Europe is set to be solidified due to the expansion of HMP Parc.

- CHRIS HAINES

HMP Parc, near Bridgend, is set to expand despite a catalogue of inmate deaths

The warning came as the expansion, which was approved despite the prison reaching a record 17 deaths in 2024, is projected to push the rate to 178 per 100,000 population.

Analysis by Wales Governance Centre warned the projected rate will surpass the average for the whole of Europe (177 per 100,000) and that of anywhere else in western Europe.

The “in-country” rate refers to people held in Welsh prisons, including those from England, with 167 per 100,000 currently compared with 139 per 100,000 across the border.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) decision to add 345 places at HMP Parc will increase the prison place surplus in Wales from 393 to an estimated 738 places, fuelling concerns about the country being used to “absorb prisoner overflows from England”.

Appearing before the Senedd's equality committee yesterday, Rob Jones, a lecturer at Cardiff University, questioned the logic of expanding the Bridgend prison.

He said: "I don’t quite understand why that decision was taken to expand that prison at that particular time - one, given the safety problems that have been widely reported on and, secondly, Wales already has the highest ‘in-country’ imprisonment rate in western Europe."