UK's largest jail to be created as HMP Highpoint sees 'groundbreaking' expansion - with 700 extra places
7 March 2025, 00:02 | Updated: 7 March 2025, 07:58
A "groundbreaking" expansion at HMP Highpoint will see it become the UK's largest prison - with 700 more spaces set to be created by summer 2027.
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Three new, four-storey houseblocks will see the prison boost its capacity by more than 50 per cent.
It comes as part of an effort from the government to deliver 14,000 more prison places by 2031 and get more criminals off the streets.
There will also be the addition of workshops and teaching facilities to train prisoners with skills to secure a job upon release.
Henry Riley reports from what will become the UK's largest prison
Once completed, the Suffolk prison will be the largest in terms of land size in North-West Europe and the largest in the UK based on prisoner population.
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The prison population is currently growing by around 100 people a week.
"We need these cells to house people but also to help turn their lives around, so when they leave they get a one way ticket, and not a return," Prisons minister Lord James Timpson told LBC.
"When you’ve got people in prison [who] learn the skills, they gain the confidence, and so when they leave they have a job guaranteed.
"It's that guaranteed job which makes a massive difference, because they don’t need to go onto universal credit, it’s easier for them to get housing and they’re back in the game."
The planned workshops will also help give inmates "hope", Lord Timpson explained.
"They know they need a job on release that’s well paid and that they’ve got the skills to do, so that they don’t let their family down again and they don’t go into this cycle of reoffending.
"They’re really up for it - you want to see people in prison who have hope and confidence."
HMP Highpoint Prison Governor Nigel Smith said: “The expansion at Highpoint will provide much-needed prisoner places in our region.
"The new accommodation will provide a safe and secure environment for us to rehabilitate prisoners and get them ready for release.
"We are pleased that the construction work has officially begun and we look forward to working with our contractors to get things delivered."
