I went to prison last week.

I can hear the cries of “about time too” and “they let you out?” already. I mentioned on my Facebook page that I had been to prison, and the responses were predictable.

I was requested to tour Holme House Prison, just off Portrack Lane, courtesy of an invitation from the Governor, Matt Spencer. It is a Category B prison, serving the population of Teesside and to some extent North Yorkshire. I viewed Holme House about four years ago, and since that time the prison has expanded. It now has the capacity to house approximately 1,200 men. About 50 men from Hartlepool are currently serving in Holme House, which I thought was a relatively low number to be honest, given the size of the prison.

I think I should lay a few myths to rest. The prison is not a holiday camp. It is, frankly, a horrible place, and I would not wish to spend much time there. To be deprived of your liberty is not positive and you are conscious, when you are in the prison, of having that freedom deprived from you.

Secondly, prisoners do not have plasma televisions, Satellite TV and Games consoles in their cells. I went into a couple of cells, and there is a TV, I grant you, but no satellite television and no game stations. A prisoner is held in a cell about 10 feet long by 4 feet wide, and in there is a bed, a sink and a toilet, with little much else. I wouldn’t want to be locked up in a room to sleep where I also use the toilet a couple of inches away, but that is how it is.

I went to the prison on the same day that the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, was told that he will never be released, and a few weeks after the Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke, made a speech where he said that he hoped the new Conservative-Liberal Coalition Government would reduce the prison population because he didn’t think that prison works. Prison policy is a considerable issue at the moment.

I would disagree with the Justice Secretary’s approach. I think prison should act as a deterrent and as a punishment. As I said earlier, to be deprived of your liberty is a powerful thing: prison takes away your freedom, which is a significant punishment. In the past ten years, more people have been locked up, with longer sentences, than at any point in our country’s history. It’s not something to be proud of, but it is a point of fact.

I also speak to decent residents in communities up and down Hartlepool who say what a blessed relief it can be to have the local yob locked up – crime rates can drop significantly in an area when a single individual is sent to prison. To provide respite for a beleaguered community is argument to me that prison can work.

But prison also has to be more than just punishment. Re-offending rates are too high by released prisoners. Educational attainment of prisoners compared with other groups is shockingly low, which reduces the chances of ex-offenders getting a job. Lack of employment can lead to further temptation to return to a life of crime. It is essential to break that cycle as much as possible, which is why Holme House is giving prisoners the opportunity to train and obtain qualifications. Hopefully this should help to reduce the possibility of re-offending and increase the possibility of a released prisoner seeking a better life for themselves and their family. The role of the Probations Service is crucial in this, to make sure that ex-offenders are able to stay on the straight and narrow. But the present Government is going to cut deep in the Probation Service’s budget, which is surely a false economy.


Getting the balance right between punishment and rehabilitation is crucial to make sure that prison works. I’m not sure Ken Clarke has that balance right, but it’s in all our interests to make sure that prison policy is effective.