Jersey planning on 'sharing' prisoners with Guernsey

Thursday 20 June 2019

Legislation to allow the transfer of prisoners between the Channel Islands is currently being drawn up, it has been revealed.

This comes following a freedom of information request that was made in Jersey about new laws currently being worked on.

The response showed that Jersey's Home Affairs Department is currently drafting the laws, and is expected to complete the work by the last quarter of this year. 

The information in the Jersey FOI request. 

Moving inmates between the islands for administrative purposes and to help ease populations at both Les Nicolles and La Moye prisons was an idea first mooted by Guernsey's Home Affairs President, Deputy Mary Lowe, towards the end of last year during a speech she made to the States. 

She said the idea was one of a few authorities in Guernsey were looking at, as Les Nicolles was fast reaching capacity, alongside other options like tagging prisoners to allow them to be released earlier.

Guernsey's Prison Governor, Dave Matthews (image from Youtube).

Now, Guernsey's Prison Governor Dave Matthews has confirmed they are aware of Jersey working on this new law, but he has also clarified there was already some legislation in place that allowed for the transfer of prisoners to other facilities in the UK, Jersey or the Isle of Man, under special circumstances.

"Transferring prisoners between the islands is something that politically both Jersey and Guernsey wish to achieve, however this work must be progressed alongside other priorities. There is currently provision for the repatriation of prisoners between the islands, the transfer of prisoners for purely administrative purposes is not considered a priority at this time," he said.

"Occasionally the need arises for a prisoner to be relocated if the particular requirements for them cannot be safely delivered in the Guernsey Prison.  There may also be benefit to the prisoners rehabilitation and re-integration to the community if they can be transferred to a prison in their home area and where possible this option is fulfilled.

"Nonetheless one of the potential benefits of being able to relatively swiftly move prisoners between the Islands would be in an extreme event such a loss of a Prison Wing in one Island due to fire, or some other serious event and an inability to move all the displaced prisoners to other Wings.  The likelihood of this is very low but it is good to develop contingency plans, and the intent is that legislative changes will make moves in such circumstances more streamlined."

Deputy Mary Lowe first suggested the idea of prisoner sharing in 2018. 

While Mr Matthews said he did not know what the final legislation would look like, he did say "it is unlikely to be complex". Once finalised, it would have to be approved by Jersey’s States Assembly before becoming law. It may also be subject to review by the Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel.”

All three of the Crown Dependencies' prison governors meet regularly and cooperate with each other on various matters, Mr Matthews added.

The latest update from the Guernsey Prison Service. 

Right now, Les Nicolles is slightly less full than it was toward the end of 2018, when it was reaching capacity. As of 14 June, it had a daily average capacity of 100 prisoners. The capacity of Jersey's prison is right now nearing 200, however the prison population has dropped to historic lows in recent years. In the most recent La Moye Annual Report, the daily average population decreased from 140 to 136, and peaked at 144 in comparison with 157 in 2016.

Jersey's La Moye is also currently set to undergo a revamp and a number of improvements. In April, plans were approved for an £8.3m upgrade, involving improved visitor facilities and satellite office space for government staff operating in the west of the island.

While the Isle of Man is involved in the Jersey Legislation, a spokesperson for the island's prison said: "Although the Isle of Man will always look at new ideas on how best to manage its prison population, there are currently no plans - nor accompanying legislation - to introduce prisoner transfers from the Island to either Jersey or Guernsey.”

Pictured top: Les Nicolles and La Moye prisons.