70 resettlement prisons unveiled to aid rehabilitation

A network of resettlement prisons has been unveiled by the Justice Secretary in a bid to help inmates rehabilitate in the community where they are released.

The introduction of 70 resettlement prisons across England and Wales will see the majority of offenders released from jail in, or close to, the area in which they will live.

Chris Grayling said: "Rehabilitation in the community must begin behind the prison walls and follow offenders out through the gates if we are to stand a chance of freeing them from a life of crime."

Existing prisons up and down the country will function as resettlement prisons with a trial starting in north-western England in the autumn.

The Justice Secretary plans to build a £250 million super-prison in North Wales, while he announced a raft of prison closures covering some 2,600 inmate places in January.