HMP Albany

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HM Prison Albany occupies the site of a former military barracks on the outskirts of Newport on the Isle of Wight, UK.

It was designed and built as a Category C Training Prison in the early 1960s.

Soon after opening in 1967, a decision was taken that security be upgraded and, in 1970, Albany became part of the dispersal system. It suffered major disturbances in 1983, which closed most of the Prison for over a year.

In 1992, as the result of a major review of the dispersal system Albany was redesignated as a Cat B Closed Training Prison.

In January 1998 Albany changed from being half Vulnerable Prisoner Unit and half Normal Location, and is now exclusively sex offenders and vulnerable prisoners. Albany also operates as an Assessment Centre for the core Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP).

Governor: Mel Jones

Operational capacity: 526 as of 30th October 2006

Accommodation: Five 4 storey cell bocks, A to E wings. Induction unit 11 cells and segregation unit 9 cells with 2 special cells. All wings are identical and hold a maximum of 88 prisoners in single cells with in-cell power, access to electronic night sanitation. There are three small ‘spurs' on each landing, with communal recesses housing showers, toilets and wash basins. In addition, there are cooking facilities and pinphones on each wing and five TV rooms within the Residential Unit. There are also 2 x 40 bed Category C quick-build units comprising of single cell units with en-suite facilities and communal activity areas inside and out. Sentence Planning, Incentives & Earned Privileges and Personal Officer schemes operate throughout the Establishment