Council leaders to be questioned about future of pupils near Coltishall prison

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 12th Jun 2008

Council leaders are to be asked their views on the controversial siting of a prison next to an existing pupil referral unit (PRU) next week in an attempt to address fears from the unit's governors that school children will be stigmatised if they are seen to be on the 'threshold' of the prison system.

Plans to create a new prison on the site of the former Coltishall air base are already going through the planning process but concerns have been expressed that pupils at the Douglas Bader Centre PRU, which is designed to support and educate young people with behavioural difficulties, may be unintentionally 'criminalised' in the public mindset if the school does end up sharing a site with the prison.

Cllr Brian Hannah, who is Lib Dem spokesperson on Norfolk Police Authority and Chair of Governors at Douglas Bader Centre PRU, will ask Norfolk County Council's Cabinet next week whether it has a view on the colocation of the prison and the PRU and whether it will be engaging in talks with the Ministry of Justice to try and resolve the problem to the satisfaction of the PRU's governors.

Mr Hannah says:

"As the chairman of governors at the school I have serious concerns about the impact that the new prison will have on pupils attending the PRU, including the stigma that may become attached to excluded young people if they are seen to be one step away from criminal behaviour.

"I will be interested to hear if the Cabinet has formed any views on this matter and very much hope that they will be open to working with the school to find a way to address the anxieties that we have about the proposals for a new prison on our doorstep."