Plaid Cymru’s MP for Arfon, Hywel Williams, has expressed concern at new figures showing that more than 300 prisoners from north Wales are in Liverpool’s Altcourse prison and that the average north Wales prisoner is located more than 70 miles from their families.
The figures were contained in the UK coalition government’s response to the Welsh Affairs Committee report on Welsh prisoners.
Mr Williams said: “The arguments and the issues remain the same as they did when the Welsh Affairs Committee raised this issue nearly five years ago.
“There is clearly a need for a prison in north Wales to reflect the number of prisoners coming from the area and to improve integration back into the local community after their sentence.
“More than 300 north Wales prisoners are currently being held at Altcourse, where there is virtually no Welsh language provision, and the average north Wales prisoner is being held more than 70 miles from home, well away from their families.
“This cannot be the best method of re-integrating prisoners back into society so that they do not commit further crimes.
“As a party, Plaid Cymru would much rather see community based sentencing, but we recognise that prison sentences are sometimes the only option.
“However, the UK Government is fixated with building super-prisons to house 1,500 people, which would be entirely inappropriate for north Wales.
“We need a small to medium sized prison here, capable of holding between 500 and 700 prisoners to reflect the needs of the area and to ensure better justice.
“It is a real shame that, with prisons around the UK at bursting point, the Con-Dem UK Government are not seriously pursuing that option in north Wales.”
