HM Prison New Hall

HM Prison New Hall is a Closed Category prison for female adults, juveniles and young offenders. The prison is located in the village of Flockton (near Wakefield) in West Yorkshire, England. New Hall is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.

HMP New Hall
LocationDial Wood, Flockton, Wakefield West Yorkshire[1][2][3]
Security classFemale/Closed Category
Population360[4] (as of August 2015)
Managed byHM Prison Services
GovernorNatalie McKee
WebsiteNew Hall at justice.gov.uk

History

In 1933, New Hall became the first prison to implement the then-experimental Open Prison system.[5] This was seen as a potential method for dealing with the combined problems of the rising numbers of prisoners and the lack of proper employment for them. At first, the prison was populated by prisoners from HMP Wakefield who were soon due to be released, but in 1961 the prison became a Senior Detention Centre for male young offenders.[6] It was during this time that, on some occasions, the 'Short, sharp shock' regime was introduced. In 1987 the prison was assigned to serve a different population, when it was re-designated for a second time to become a women's prison.[6]

In 1999, the BBC programme Jailbirds was filmed at the prison with the producers being given unlimited access to the inmates for a period of eight months.[7]

The prison today

Currently, New Hall is a closed female local prison which holds all categories of adult female prisoners. Beside this, it caters for young offenders and juveniles who are on Detention and Training Orders. Accommodation at the prison is mainly in cells. There is a mother & baby unit, health care centre, segregation unit and some dormitories.[8][9]

This prison provides full and part-time education courses for prisoners in areas such as business administration, food hygiene, literacy, numeracy and information technology, NVQ Hairdressing, BTEC and Art. New Hall has workshops where inmates can be given experience of assembly work, light textile work, catering and gardening. Employment and careers advice, Jobcentre Plus and Connexions are also available.[10] The prison's governor is Natalie McKee.[11]

Notable inmates

Notable people held at the prison include:

References
  1. "New Hall Prison and Young Offender Institute". GOV.UK. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  2. "HMP & YOI New Hall". DoingTime, a guide to prison and probation. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  3. "HMP New Hall". The Law Pages. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  4. "Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI New Hall" (PDF). justiceinspectorates.gov.uk. August 2015. p. 5. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. "The Howard League | New Hall". howardleague.org. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  6. "Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI New Hall" (PDF). justiceinspectorates.gov.uk. August 2015. p. 7. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  7. Devlin, Angela (16 March 1999). "The turn of the screws". The Independent. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  8. "Prison inspection report 2008" (PDF). reports.ofsted.gov.uk. 5 November 2010. p. 4. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  9. "PORRIDGE - THE FEMALE WAY". Wakefield Express. 20 April 2001. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  10. Williams, Zoe (30 January 2015). "When prison works: inside New Hall, the women's prison where inmates are equals". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  11. "New Hall Prison information". www.justice.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  12. Warburton, Dan; Davison, Emma (21 July 2019). "This is the reason Rose West has been moved to a West Yorkshire prison". Yorkshire Live. Retrieved 2 April 2020.

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