Remand
Holds prisoners who are awaiting trial or those who have been convicted but have not yet been sentenced. Normally more privileges than sentenced prisoners.
Local
Intended to serve a particular city. Holding either short term prisoners from that particular area or longer term prisoners being nearing the end of their sentence being returned to a particular area. This has become more difficult as over crowding has been more of an issue.
Dispersal
Holds Cat A and Cat B prisoners who are serving a long sentence. High security prisoners will usually visit a number of the six dispersals during a sentence.
Male dispersal prisons include Frankland-Durham, Full Sutton-York, Long Lartin-Worc, Wakefield-W.Yorks, Whitemoor-Cambs, Belmarsh-London*
* HMP Belmarsh was opened to act as a local prison for Southeast London and to house remand prisoners requiring the highest level of security. Following the Woodcock and Learmont reports and the consequent increased investment in raising levels of security, the Home Secretary ordered that Belmarsh should belong to the high security group of establishments called dispersal prisons. However the vast majority of its functions remained entirely different from those of dispersal prisons because Belmarsh continued to hold unconvicted prisoners and those who had been recently convicted and sentenced, functions normally associated with local prisons.
Special Secure Unit
On the whole are units within a particular prison: almost a prison within a prison where security is very intense. Normally they are very small with very limited access for civilian staff.
Training
Prisons which provide a range of training activities for prisoners. They are normally in the middle of the security catagory and usually holding adult male prisoners.
Open
The most liberal of prison environments with flexible arrangements for external activities.
Semi-Closed
A term used to describe arrangements which are neither quite open or closed. Often used to describe conditions which prisoners are enjoying on route to open prisons or to describe particularly flexible low catagory prisons.
Young Offenders Institutions
Traditionally held prisoners between 16 and 21 but recent proposals are due to reduce this to 18. Young offenders arenot usually categorised as adult prisoners.
Unless a prisoner is serving a short sentence they will usually be sent to a training prison, in which he/she may be able to attend education classess, vocational training courses, courses designed to help them address their behaviour, and or work. If they are under 21 years of age they will go to a young offenders institution.
Segregation
Prisoners can be segregated from other prisoners either for their own protection or in the interest of good order and discipline. This is done under Rule 45 or in young offenders institutions, Rule 46. Many sex offenders are segregated in this way.
Female Prisons
There are far fewer places in prisons for women than men. There are four local prisons, five other closed prisons, three open prisons, three closed and two open young offenders institutions. There are 3 mother and baby units in Holloway, Styal and Askam Grange – where some women may have their children with them up to either 9 or 18 months of age, depending on the institution. Women are not in general catagories like men, so there are no dispersal prisons although there is a high security female prison wing in an otherwise male prison at Durham.
Female Closed Prisons
Bullwood Hall – Essex, Cookham Wood – Kent, Foston Hall – Derbyshire, Send – Surrey, Styal – Cheshire.
Female Local Prisons
Brockhill – Worcestershire, Eastwood Park – Gloucesteshire, Holloway – London, New Hall – West Yorkshire.
Female Open Prisons
Askham Grange – York, Drake Hall – Staffordshire, East Sutton Park – Kent.