Sixty six temporary prisoner cells, built at HMP Coldingley during the Covid-19 pandemic, will be made permanent in an effort to “ease” the crisis facing the service.

Nationally, the prison population has doubled in the past 30 years while  only 500 new cells have been built in the past 14 years.

It has left the service scrambling around looking for a series of short-term ways to increase capacity until four new prisons come online by 2031, creating 14,000 extra spaces.

The latest stop gap, has been the approval of 66 cells in  HMP Coldingley in Bisley by Surrey Heath Borough Council on Thursday, June 6.

The cells were approved unanimously during a brief two-minute item with no questions or debate from members.

Case officers addressing the meeting said: “No objections have been raised by any statutory consultees, while there is a national need for prisoner accommodation.

“The application is therefore recommended for approval.”

The plans were reported to committee due to its size – although details were scant on the advice of the Ministry of Justice, which said the application contained officially sensitive information, including the layout.

The confidential information has not been shared in the public domain however the publicly available aspects of the report said the overall site comprises a variety of buildings of up to four storeys in height, predominantly concentrated towards the north-western flank and centre. 

Among them are a central accommodation block, an engineering workshop and a laundry building.

Sports pitches and  open spaces are at the  south-west with the prison entrance is at the north-eastern corner of the site. 

The entire perimeter of the category c site, that is male prisoners who can not be trusted in open conditions,  is secured by a 5.2-metre-high security fence.

The report read: “The proposed development supports a demonstrable national infrastructure need and aligns with national and local policy objectives.

It added: “The installation of the cells was considered necessary in the event of a national emergency to allow for safeguarding procedures to be implemented during Covid-19.

“There is also an on-going national shortfall of prison spaces, with the prison population having roughly doubled in the last 30 years with only 500 places added to the country’s stock of jail cells in the last 14 years. 

“At national level four prisons are being built as part of the Plan for Change to create 14,000 extra spaces by 2031 to assist with the crisis. 

“Until then, however, short term measures such the installation of Rapid Deployment Cells, and the retention of the temporary accommodation installed during the pandemic such as this site, help to ease the burden of rising demand.”

“The application is supported by comment from the Department of Justice (see confidential paper). 

“There is a clear need for existing prison sites to support the increased demand and shortage of supply of prison places across the country.

“The proposed development therefore helps to support a demonstrable national need.”