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Do you fancy a prison at the end of your street?

If you don't there's no immediate need to worry.

There are no plans that I have seen for a prison in East Lancashire, and - roughly speaking - I ought to know as the minister responsible for the prison system.

But, for the avoidance of doubt, if a local authority or other landowner in our area comes along to the Ministry of Justice and offers a suitable site, I would certainly ensure that this was properly considered.

Lancashire itself has six prisons, which is more than you'd expect for a county of our size. There's the country's oldest prison, Lancaster Castle, opened in 1500, when Henry VII was on the throne. That's a smallish (250 places) training prison.

Preston, another very old jail, founded in 1790, rebuilt as a classic Victorian prison with around 700 places, is the main local' prison for our area. Then there's Wymott and Garth, separate establishments on the same site just outside Leyland, with over 1,600 places between them; Lancaster Farms, the large Young Offenders Institution with 530 places, half for juveniles 15 or over, the other half for 18-21 years olds; and finally Kirkham, an open' prison with around 600 places.

Indeed the only prison type we do not have is high security category A' jail for serious and dangerous offenders.

But all of these prisons are in the north, south, or west of the county. None here.Should we be pleased, or sad about that?

Ask people cold whether they would like a prison close by, and most will very quickly reply No, thanks'. I entirely understand why. The idea of a large number of criminals coming to stay, uninvited, will not appear at first blush to be an attractive proposition.

But here's a strange thing.

Once a prison is established is an area, the community often (not always, I accept) may become quite attached to it. This is not irrational.

First, there's the matter of jobs. The prison service is a big employer. The employment is secure, and carries a good pension. I appreciate that prison officers and other staff, unsurprisingly, would like more money, but the turnover of officers from the Prison Service to outside employment, at two per cent, is the lowest by far of any part of the public sector. At a time when across the western world employment in the manufacturing sector is bound to fall, prison jobs can be really important to an area.

Second, there's surprising scope for involvement of the community in the life of the prison.

Third, there's house values. I don't blame people in the least for worrying that an undesirable' development could knock the value of their home. But, happily, the available evidence - including from an outside independent study - is that having a prison does not mean lower house prices.

Lastly, the days of porridge', when prisoners did escape in some numbers, are over. Very few prisoners escape each year from lower category prisons, but staff have worked successfully over the years to make prisons places where prisoners really are kept locked up.

So the whole idea may not be quite as bad as it sounds.

2:11pm Thursday 6th December 2007

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