He questioned justice minister Lord Hunt of Kings Heath about the issue in the House of Lords last week, during a discussion of a report on prisons by Lord Carter of Coles.

In his report, the Labour peer recommends building three Titan prisons holding 2,500 inmates each.

The Rt Rev James Jones asked: “Does the noble Lord recognise that at the moment 45 per cent of prisoners lose contact with their families?

“Has he taken evidence from organisations representing prisoners’ families and, if not, will he undertake to consult them before this plan goes forward?”

Other peers had raised the prospect that building larger prisons would result in prisoners being housed further away from home.

Lord Hunt replied to Bishop Jones: “I am very happy to take that suggestion on board in relation to the estate strategy.

“I am fully aware of the problems caused by crowding in our prisons and the problems for families who are trying to keep in contact.

“That is why one of the Carter proposals is to increase capacity — to reduce some of the pressure on the system and, we hope, to make it easier for families to visit their loved ones in prison.”



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