Wellingborough prison, HMP Five Wells, has finally opened its doors to inmates.
The first of 1,680 prisoners have moved into the G4S-run prison with ‘airport style security’.
The move was confirmed by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). A spokesperson said: “It has opened. I can confirm that verbally.”
The £253 million prison is one of Northamptonshire’s largest ever public spend building projects and stands on the site of the demolished HM Prison Wellingborough.
The MoJ contracted construction company Kier to execute the build under the Prison Estate Transformation Programme.
G4S have been requested by the MoJ to refrain from providing details about the prison until after a ‘completion event’ which they are hoping will take place soon.
The prison, which features seven houseblocks and over 60,000 square metres of accommodation areas and ancillary buildings, will aim to rehabilitate its inmates.
The building has been designed in keeping with the MoJ’s commitment for an ‘environment conducive to rehabilitation’ including no bars on its windows and X-shaped wings.
A spokesman from G4S said: “The new-generation category C facility will be run with a strong focus on rehabilitation in order to break the cycle of reoffending.
“Total revenues over the life of the contract are expected to be around £300m and G4S will create around 700 new jobs to manage and operate the contract.”
The prison, one of the largest in the UK, which began hiring in January, has faced its fair share of controversy.
In April, 2021, the build attracted a two-day lock-on protest and, in December, an anti-Covid protest by people who were convinced that the site was going to become a quarantine camp for people who were unvaccinated.