Uncertain future for former Gosport immigration removal centre

Dilapidated jails up and down the country were slated for closure, the Conservative party election manifesto said.

But that was thrown into question after the National Offender Management Service chief executive Michael Spurr said no jails would close in the next five years.

The News has learned the former immigration removal centre Haslar, which was closed last year before being fully decommissioned this April, will not become a jail.

The site was transferred from the Home Office to the Ministry of Justice but questions remain about its future.

Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage said the MoJ had told her that there was ‘no further progress’ but the site was due for disposal. She said: ‘He doubted it would be coming to the market for some time because they are focusing efforts on the giant high-value estates like Holloway.’

The MoJ said it will always have enough prison spaces.