MPs Call for Halt on HMP Parc Expansion

0:00On March 30, MPs on the Walsh Affairs Committee are calling for a full pause on expanding H&P Park and Bridgin, Wales, saying it's the wrong spot to, cram a more inmates right now. The prison saw 17 men die there in 2024, the worst toll of any jail in England and Wales that year, with three more deaths in the case. First nine months of 2025. All this amid drugs flooding in, self-harm spiking, brutal violence, and way too few staff on hand. Even with those red flags, the Ministry of Justice Greenlit plans last September to add 345 prisoners and 160 staff, pushing the spot past its current 1,670 inmate cap. They argued the whole system was about to bust at the scenes without quick moves since private operator G4S runs the Category B facility. The committee chair, Ruth Jones, stressed every avoidable death hits hard and pumping of the population, could derail safety fixes already underway.

1:00Inspectors hit the place unannounced in January 2025 and slammed it for worse conditions across the board. Guys locked down 21. Hours a day, junk food, bare bones, mental health help, and staff stretched thin. A follow-up check in January 2026 spotted some early winds, like cutting drug flows to ease self-harm and fights, but overall progress. Stay too slow. The prison claims real gains in busting narcotics, while the Ministry vows to build 14,000 new spots by 2031 to tackle the crunch. With England's and Wales' lock-up count nearing 90,000 and sentences dragging longer, Welsh leaders from labor and played Simru push to hand. Justice powers to cart it fully, hoping to fix overlaps and rethink the whole overcrowded