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| Prisons merge to create new jail | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Three West Midlands prisons will merge to form one of Britain's biggest jails, the Prison Service has announced. | |
| Blakenhurst, Brockhill and Hewell Grange will remain at their existing sites but be brought under a single management team to form HMP Redditch. | |
| It will be ready by April and will hold up to 1,428 inmates - only about 50 less than the biggest, Wandsworth. | |
| The government has already announced plans to build up to three "Titan" jails each holding 2,500 prisoners. | The government has already announced plans to build up to three "Titan" jails each holding 2,500 prisoners. |
| 'Improve efficiency' | |
| "Titan" prisons will be larger - matching the capacity of three jails grouped together - and they will house different units on one site. | |
| The Prison Services says the merger will "improve the efficiency and effectiveness across the three prisons by merging functions." | The Prison Services says the merger will "improve the efficiency and effectiveness across the three prisons by merging functions." |
| Governor of HMP Redditch Alison Perry, said the new prison model would cut the duplication in both operations and administration. | |
| Prison Service Deputy director general, Michael Spurr, added it was "the way forward for the Service to deliver results in an increasingly tight financial climate". | |
| It has been named HMP Redditch after the nearby town which is in Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's constituency. |