Buckley Hall prison changing from a female to a male prison
 
Today it was announced that HMP Buckley Hall will be ‘re-rolled’ from a women’s prison to a men’s prison. This is the third time it has been switched since it was reopened in 1994. Current female prisoners are scattered across the country, setting back their education and training and disrupting their lives.
 
The prison population has risen by over 4 per cent since the beginning of the year. It reached a new high of 77,000 over the summer (at last Friday it was sitting at 76,934). The Home Office had projected a stable population and is being forced to react to this large, unexpected rise.
 
Juliet Lyon said
 
“The knock on effect of rapidly rising prison numbers is now sending vulnerable women spinning around the country and asking staff to stomach almost impossible levels of change.”
 
Notes: 
 
1. Already over half of female prisoners live more than 50 miles from their home or committal court. With one less female prison it can only get harder to place women near their families
 
2. Home Office research has found that 66 per cent of female prisoners are mothers, and each year it is estimated that more than 17,700 children are separated from their mother by imprisonment.
 
3. Two-thirds of women show symptoms of at least one neurotic disorder such as depression, anxiety and phobias.
 
4. Of sentenced female prisoners, the majority are held for non-violent offences.