Wandsworth and High Down prisons first in line for changes as "biggest shake-up" of prison system is announced in Queen's Speech

HMP Wandsworth, one of Europe's largest prisons, will be a "trailblazer" site for the proposals, with prison governors getting new freedoms including legal and financial freedoms.

HMP High Down in Sutton was also named.

Governors will be able to decide how the prison budget is spent, whether to opt-out of national contracts and given operational freedoms over education, the prison regime, family visits, and partnerships to provide prison work and rehabilitation services.

The Government announcement promises a transparency regime to hold governors to account, with comparable statistics to be published for each prison on reoffending, employment rates on release, and violence and self-harm.

April 2016: America's most wanted Lovkesh Kumar killed himself in Wandsworth prison, inquest rules

August 2015: Investigation into Wandsworth prison security reveals '£30m drug-dealing gang using hacked laptops'

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "For too long, we have left our prisons to fester. Not only does that reinforce the cycle of crime, increasing the bills of social failure that taxpayers must pick up. It writes off thousands of people.

"So today, we start the long-overdue, long-needed change that our prisons need.

"No longer will they be warehouses for criminals, they will now be places where lives are changed."

The other prisons are HMP Holme House, HMP Kirklevington Grange, HMP Coldingley and HMP Ranby.

July 2015: 'Unacceptable overcrowding' and 'severe staff shortages' inside Wandsworth Prison

June 2013: 'Overcrowded' Wandsworth prison should be replaced by 'super-jail', says Policy Exchange report

The Government said the reforms further its commitment to public protection by cutting reoffending.

Further legislation will allow prisons to be "established as independent legal entities", so they can enter contracts, generate and retain their own incomes and establish their own boards.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "It is hugely encouraging to see that prison reform is at the front and centre of today’s Queen’s Speech.

"There is no public service in such disarray as the prisons, and the rising number of assaults, deaths by suicide, and incidents of self-injury show that the need for change is urgent.

"More autonomy for governors, improvements to education and a more sensible approach to release on temporary licence are all steps in the right direction.

"Less helpful is the proposal to tag people during the week and lock them up at weekends. After the embarrassing disasters with tagging by private security companies, we should look to more creative ways to ease people into the community safely.

"Ultimately, the success of these reforms will depend on whether the government introduces positive measures to tackle overcrowding by driving down prison numbers."

Prison building renovation is to be funded by £1.3bn announced in the Spending Review.