Michael Gove has a rare opportunity to reform the prison system. Will he take it?

The Chancellor announced this morning that he will sell off old Victorian jails, which are on prime land for housing development, and replace them with a series of new prisons.

The decision to sell off old prisons is a relatively easy one to take. The old prison estate in London is worth a fortune, is expensive to maintain, and new prisons can be run more efficiently. What’s more, prison is notoriously bad at rehabilitating offenders and protecting the public – as nearly half of offenders go on to commit another crime within a year of being released.

The harder decision for the government is: what should replace the old prisons? Short-term economic interests would point towards building a series of large prisons in cheaper areas of the country – such as the new ‘Titan’ prison being built in Wrexham, which will house more than 2,000 inmates.

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But the government should resist the temptation to go down this route, as it could be more expensive in the long run.