I'd like to thank the Chair of the Petitions Committee for bringing forward this debate today on an important issue facing my region. I live in Port Talbot, and I must say at the outset that I am not, in principle, opposed to the establishment of a new prison in Port Talbot—in principle. Despite the protestations of many opposed to the new prison, Wales definitely needs a new prison, but the location has to be correct, and if there is any aspect that renders it incorrect in Baglan, unsuitable, such as the flooding aspect that Nigel who is a Plaid Cymru councillor spoke to me about not so very long ago, then, obviously, that site is unsuitable.

Just two weeks ago, mental health charity Hafal warned that overcrowding at HMP Swansea was affecting the safety and mental health of prisoners. When the Victorian prison—Victorian prison—was built, it was designed to hold around 240 prisoners; it currently holds twice that number. Swansea is the third most overcrowded prison in the UK. With the exception of the new prison in north Wales, all of our prisons are overcrowded. Cardiff is operating at 150 per cent capacity, as is Usk. Parc is operating just over capacity.

Having worked for many years at HMP Parc, I can tell you that overcrowding is hard, both on prisoners and staff alike. Prisoners in modern prisons are not simply shut away in the dark and forgotten about; they are rehabilitated. If anyone wants to speak to me about my eight years of experience, I would only be too happy to tell them. 

In recent years, as a result of overcrowding, self-harm amongst prisoners has sky-rocketed, as has sickness and absence amongst most prison officers. There has also been a rise in assaults on prison staff. In the last 10 years, the number of self-harm incidents have nearly doubled to around 38,000 a year. Over the same period, assaults on staff have increased by over 32 per cent. Last year, there were around 6,500 assaults on staff, 761 of which resulted in the prison officer being hospitalised.