The UK government has recently opened its first “green” prison, HMP Millsike, located in Yorkshire. This facility is the first of four planned to be built under a broader initiative to increase the prison capacity in England and Wales by 14,000 places by 2031. The prison has been designed with sustainable technology in mind, featuring solar panels and heat pump technology, and is situated adjacent to the maximum-security HMP Full Sutton, which houses nearly 600 category A and B male prisoners. The facility is expected to create approximately 600 jobs according to the Ministry of Justice.
HMP Millsike is described as a “megaprison” due to its size and the significant expansion it provides to the country’s prison estate. The government claims that the new capacity will allow for the incarceration of more violent offenders, thereby enhancing public safety. This development follows a period where prisoners have been released early due to overcrowding issues in current prisons.
Aside from HMP Millsike, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has enforced the use of police cells for prisoners, emphasizing the ongoing issues with overcrowding in the prison system. Despite recent releases aimed at creating space, many prisons in England and Wales remain overcrowded, with some operating at nearly double their intended capacity.
Mahmood stressed the government’s commitment to reforming the prison system and pledged to review sentencing to tackle the crisis effectively. The backlog in the crown court system has reached critical levels, with projections indicating it could rise to 100,000 cases by the end of 2029. Criticisms of the prison crisis have cited a political desire to appear “tough on crime” as a driving factor, despite evidence that longer sentences do not necessarily reduce crime rates.
Millsike, together with other initiatives like the expansion of HMP Highpoint in Suffolk, is part of a £2.3 billion, 10-year plan to increase prison capacity. The facility is equipped with 24 workshops and training programs aimed at rehabilitating offenders, with the goal of reducing reoffending rates.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/28/government-opens-first-of-its-kind-green-prison-in-east-yorkshire
