The greenest jail in the country opened its doors yesterday – with the aim of cutting crimes against the planet as well as society.
HMP Fosse Way is a state-of-the-art “resettlement” jail for prisoners nearing the end of their sentences.
Perks to help them reintegrate into society include five-a-side pitches, music studios and outdoor gyms.
They also have computers with restricted access to websites via the prison’s intranet system, on which inmates can play games and also study for GCSEs, A-levels and degrees in the privacy of their own cells.
The £286million jail near Leicester is one of the world’s first ultra low-carbon prisons, boasting nearly 1,000 solar panels, heat pumps, energy-efficient lighting systems and electric vehicle charging points.
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Prison is built in an X shape with four wings (PA)HMP Fosse Way is the latest “mega-jail” to be built to solve the jails crisis, as the prison population of England and Wales hit 85,407 earlier this month – just 900 short of full capacity.
The new jail, the second of six being built across the UK, will house 1,715 inmates using the latest designs and innovations to boost security and the rehabilitation of offenders.
The Mirror was given a sneak peek inside HMP Fosse Way yesterday as Justice Secretary Alex Chalk opened the jail.
Using eco fuels, renewable energy and electric construction machinery, the prison was designed and manufactured off-site, dramatically reducing its carbon footprint.
Special eco-friendly concrete was used that is said to deliver a 40% reduction in carbon emissions.
The project also used power generators which were converted from diesel use to be fuelled by vegetable oil, cutting carbon dioxide by 90%.
Our Martin in the jail yesterdayMost of the ground materials were recycled, with 75,000 cubic metres of existing material reused – saving over 10,000 lorry journeys.
Inmates are able to learn green skills of the future including recycling and waste management and coding.
The jail, built on the site of the former borstal HMP Glen Parva and run by Serco, has 24 workshops and dozens of classrooms.
Inmates have access to CAT digger and driver simulators to help them train for construction qualifications and HGV licences.
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The Category C prison also boasts a music studio, In House Records, where inmates can learn how to produce hits.
Tutor Paul Cole, who runs a studio in Leicester city centre, told the Mirror: “We cater for all musical tastes. I’m a guitarist, but if someone wants to come in and learn how to produce drill music, we can do that.”
Facilities at the Category C prison (PA)Offenders who complete the course receive a qualification recognised by industry giants Sony and Universal.
Inmates are also trained to make glasses for prisoners across the UK, or to build concrete foundations and anti-ligature LED lighting for jails.
The aim is to allow offenders to learn new skills and train in industries so they can find work upon release.
HMP Fosse Way has opened after it emerged last year that hundreds of prisoners faced being held in police stations at a cost to taxpayers of at least £450 a night as jails were nearly full. Justice chiefs say they have now built over 5,000 of the 20,000 places promised in the Government’s £4billion construction programme. Due to be completed by the middle of this decade, it is the biggest expansion of the prison estate since the Victorian era.
HMP Fosse Way, named after the Roman road that runs through Leicestershire, is the UK’s latest “smart” prison following on from HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire, which opened last year.
They are specifically designed to be safer places for inmates and staff and aim to promote rehabilitation.
Mr Chalk shown work station (PA)The four-storey blocks at HMP Fosse Way are designed in an X shape with wide, short corridors, allowing frontline prison officers to see all cells and offenders quickly at any one time.
Each block houses 240 inmates, with just 60 to each floor – far fewer than traditional Victorian jails.
Cells have secure, bar-less windows which it is hoped will help eradicate the smuggling of drugs, phones and weapons. Inmate Scott Wallace of Tamworth, Staffs, was one of the first to arrive at Fosse Way last month.
The 39-year-old, serving a sentence for conspiring to supply Class A drugs, told the Mirror: “It’s just so spacious and light. It’s all about getting us ready to be on the outside again.”
Justice Secretary Mr Chalk, who met prison officers as he toured the jail yesterday, said he wants prisons to be “safe, modern places that place rehab and cutting crime at their core”.
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