Subject to the next following subsection, the Secretary of State may by order close any prison.

Where a prison is the only prison in the county, the Secretary of State shall not make an order under this section in respect of it except for special reasons, which shall be stated in the order.

In this section the expression “county” means a county at large.

For the purposes of this and the next following section a prison shall not be deemed to be closed by reason only of its appropriation for use as a remand centre, detention centre or F1youth custody centreF2or secure training centre.