Lancaster MP welcomes increase in prison places
HMP Lancaster Farms is having its capacity boosted by more than 40%, plus a new workshop, as part of the Government's largest prison expansion programme since the Victorian era.
The prison is adding four new houseblocks, and will see places increase from 584 to 824, with cells equipped with modern security features such as reinforced windows to tackle threats like drones carrying contraband.
Construction is due to finish by the end of the year.
A new workshop will also be added, providing prisoners with the training and skills they need to get a job on release.
Catherine McKinnell, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, who visited the site this week, said: "This Government is fixing the prison crisis it inherited – building the prison places needed to protect the public and take dangerous criminals off our streets.
“These new houseblocks at HMP Lancaster Farms are just the latest step in that work, with more than 3,300 places delivered across the country in little over two years.
“They come equipped with modern security features to tackle threats like drones, alongside a new workshop to boost rehabilitation and ensure punishment cuts crime.”
Lancaster MP Cat Smith said: “23 prisons were closed between 2010 and 2024, leading to the early release scheme. I’m pleased our area will be a part of the fastest prison building programme since the Victorian era, with 14,000 new places by 2031.
“But alongside restoring neighbourhood policing, more prison places and boosts in prisoner rehabilitation in Lancaster, we need to rebuild the criminal justice system.
"Completed rape prosecutions have now reached the highest level in a decade, but far too many victims are still afraid to report because they fear they’ll never see a court room or justice.”
The Government has also recently set out changes to boost prison capacity through plans to remove foreign national offenders more quickly and end the historic injustice of Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences in a way that balances fairness and public safety.
Lancaster Farms is a Category C resettlement male prison, and the expansion forms part of the Small Secure Houseblocks Programme, which will deliver 1,080 new Category C prison places across six prison sites, and the Government's wider £4.7bn investment in prison building over the 2026/27 to 2029/30 spending review period.