A few months ago, I visited the construction site at Highpoint Prison south of Bury St Edmunds where a major expansion is taking place which will increase capacity by around fifty percent. The site was a real hive of industry with JCBs, dumper trucks and other equipment moving around what looked to me to be a very complex site.
This expansion is essential. As we all know this country is desperately short of prison accommodation because no government of any colour has (until recently) bothered to seriously consider long-term prison capacity planning as the population expands. Prison expansion plan did commence under the previous government, and I trust it will continue with the current incumbents. When visiting Highpoint, I was delighted to learn that the building contractor, Wates is employing several ex-offenders as part of this Ministry of Justice contract. For many years I have repeatedly stated that public sector procurement paid for via our taxes should do a great deal more to support UK plc’s economy!
You may have heard about the government’s early release programme for prisoners because of a severe shortage of prison cell capacity. Fortunately, the numbers released back into Suffolk society are very few so there is little cause for public alarm. My concerns as Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner regarding the potential worry caused to victims due to this early release policy have been largely resolved. Each person for release has been carefully assessed by the Constabulary and other responsible authorities.
That said, many detainees who have been granted their freedom (under various conditions) have returned to prison and my understanding is too many individuals were not adequately prepared for release back into civilian life. In most situations insufficient time was provided to prepare inmates for a return to civilian life since some inmates become institutionalised and find it too challenging to make the necessary adjustments.
By coincidence a key component of our latest Suffolk Police and Crime Plan focusses on crime prevention and recidivism (re-offending). This objective is not some wishy-washy proposal to exonerate criminal behaviour whatsoever – improving public trust and confidence in the whole of our criminal justice system is vital for economic growth and society’s general wellbeing. Each prison place now costs around £60,000 per year and when you meet young men who have been in and out of custody with short-term sentencing a new approach should be considered; especially for lower-level crimes.
Many of the young male offenders have had a very difficult start in life when they were children for a variety of reasons – often through no fault of their own. Perhaps there were no suitable adult role models, parental skills and acumen might have been non-existent and they were open to malign influences so poor life-style decisions were made as they entered adulthood. That is a societal problem which needs addressing by all of us in my opinion, but this will not alter the current status quo. I do, however, passionately believe there are opportunities to break this cycle of re-offending and imprisonment – in my farming career I had the opportunity to help such people.
When inmates are released their needs (like all of us) are quite basic – a job, money, food and shelter. Releasing people without those building blocks in place is, frankly, setting many up to fail and then the cost to us as taxpayers can be enormous. Meeting the challenge of recidivism is not easy but I do know it can work especially when people are supported by the relevant agencies coupled with some of our extraordinary Suffolk charities. I am convinced we need some changes because the status quo costs a fortune and doesn’t work very well – more importantly we are condemning too many to a life of crime and wasted talent.
To finish I am optimistic our approach will make progress by working across all sectors of the economy – that power of collaboration! The evidence is there before our eyes, and I saw this at first hand when I had the opportunity to address a conference for the construction industry at Kings College Cambridge. The title was Building Better Futures and was aimed at getting girls and women interested in construction as a career choice and what great opportunities are available. Delegates were from private sector businesses, trainers (such as West Suffolk College), public sector agencies including the prison service, and a variety of charities.
Sharing the stage with me was a young woman called Kim who had served a prison sentence and following retraining now has a good career ahead of her in the construction industry. Her comments were inspirational and make me even more determined to give such people a proper second chance in life – that reminds me of a profound comment from that great Victorian prime minister Benjamin Disraeli – “The secret of success in life is to be ready when your opportunity comes” and as far as I am concerned I will do whatever I can with the support of others to provide individuals with that opportunity especially for the younger generation and for those who have not had the best start in life.
Published in Bury Free Press in October 2025