200 new bail hostels to be built without telling locals

MINISTERS were today accused of drawing up secret plans to build bail hostels without consulting residents and councillors.

The Government has signed a deal with a private company to build 200 hostels to house bailed offenders, those released on home curfew with electronic tags and alleged criminals awaiting trial.

However, a leaked memo advises local authorities that councillors and residents will not be notified of plans to build a hostel until they have been approved.

Even if they find out about the plans, councils have no rights to object to hostels unless they breach housing and planning rules.

The company, ClearSprings, has only to consult with senior police officers, council officials and the probation service. The period for consultation was also limited to five days.

Shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert said: "The Government has failed to provide enough prison capacity so they've devised a covert plan to set up what amounts to mini-open jails in residential areas while avoiding any consultation with the public." Mr Herbert added: "Placing offenders in residential properties causes immense aggravation when neighbours suddenly discover what's going on, only to be told that they are powerless to stop it and the local community didn't even need to be consulted."

He called for a greater focus on the rehabilitation of offenders.

The Ministry of Justice insisted that the protocol was drawn up by ClearSprings last year and had been withdrawn in November until talks took place with the Local Government Association.

Justice Minister David Hanson defended the new hostels.

He said: "Residents in bail accommodation are no different to those who have been legitimately released into the community to return to their own homes.

"Those held in ClearSprings accommodation are deemed not to require close supervision or support. More than half of those held in this accommodation are on bail and are therefore innocent until proven guilty."

A Ministry of Justice spokesman added: "ClearSprings prepared a protocol for use with local authorities, setting out operational procedures in response to a request from one local authority."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in