In a recent letter to the Lancaster Guardian, Susie Charles, the Deputy Leader of the Lancaster District Conservative Group, has rebutted claims that there is a plan for a Titan prison in Lancaster.

Dear Sir,

With regard to your coverage of the expression of interest in a Titan prison for Lancaster in a letter sent by a Lancaster City Council officer, I feel the need to advise you of the Conservative viewpoint.

We agree with the Government on the need for more prison capacity, and Conservative Party policies would provide an additional 5,000 places nationwide over and above the Government’s own plans.

However, we favour smaller, local prisons better suited to rehabilitation.  Our objective is to keep down the prison population in the long-term by reducing levels of re-offending.

[The Guardian] headline suggests there is a plan for a Titan prison in Lancaster.

This is not true.

Cllr Susie Charles

Your headline suggests there is a plan for a Titan prison in Lancaster. This is not true. Each such prison, if built, would occupy a site twice the size of Wembley stadium.

To build the biggest prisons in Europe – would be to fly in the face of all the evidence from prison reform experts that smaller prisons are more secure and superior for the purposes of rehabilitation, and that local family links contribute to the reduction of re-offending.

Cllr Susie Charles
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party on Lancaster City Council