Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2022 to Question 125503 on Prisons: Energy Supply, what is the total cost of works already started and fully committed to by (a) UK Power Networks and (b) other electrical supply contractors to install additional power to the (i) HMP Grendon and (ii) HMP Springhill site areas; and how much and what proportion of that existing cost is for use by (A) existing prisons and (B) planned prisons which do not have planning permission.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The total cost of necessary power upgrades has not been finalised. This is because the final cost is dependent on the route taken, which is subject to the relevant Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) securing the necessary consents and wayleaves and any stipulations made by the Local Authority in relation to works.
Works already started are to support a necessary uplift in energy capacity at the existing prison (HMP Springhill) only. The existing power demand at HMP Springhill is already currently over capacity, therefore that site requires a power upgrade irrespective of the proposed expansion. No works already started relate to the proposed new prison currently undergoing planning.
The total commitment to date to UK Power Networks for this upgrade is £840,000 (including VAT).
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of works with (a) UK Power Networks and (b) other electrical supply contractors to install additional power to the (i) HMP Grendon and (ii) HMP Springhill site area; and how much and what proportion of that cost is for use by (A) existing prisons and (B) planned prisons which do not have planning permission.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Negotiations are ongoing with UK Power Network and Western Power Distribution; any estimates are commercially sensitive, and their release would risk prejudicing our negotiating position.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoner visitors there were at HMP Berwyn in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019 and (d) 2020.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The number of individuals listed to attend HMP Berwyn for social visits in each of the years requested is provided below. Please note that these numbers will include visitors who attended on multiple occasions and those who cancelled or did not attend on the day.
Year | Number of Listed Visitors |
2017 | 6,494 |
2018 | 12,564 |
2019 | 15,512 |
2020 | 7,406 |
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish details of how Government-owned land that is not owned by his Department has been (a) identified and (b) subsequently discounted as an alternative prison site to the one at Grendon Underwood; and on what basis sites were discounted.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The information requested for both questions is commercially sensitive and would therefore not be appropriate for us to share.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish details of any prison site selection assessments that have been carried out and since discounted for alternative sites to the one at Grendon Underwood.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The information requested for both questions is commercially sensitive and would therefore not be appropriate for us to share.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times (a) the Police and (b) other enforcement services were called out to deal with incidents at HMP Berwyn in (i) 2017, (ii) 2018, (iii) 2019 and (iv) 2020.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
In line with policy at HMP Berwyn, when a medical emergency procedure is activated it is standard response for the communications room to call for an ambulance. This is in partnership with the prison’s healthcare providers – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Welsh Ambulance Service Trust. HMPPS does not hold information about the number of times the ambulance service has been called to attend the prison as the information is held by the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust.
HMP Berwyn works closely with colleagues in the police and have a dedicated police team on site to support with incidents where required. Information about the number of times the police and other enforcement services have been called to attend HMP Berwyn is held by the police.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the Ambulance Service was called out to deal with incidents at HMP Berwyn in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019 and (d) 2020.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
In line with policy at HMP Berwyn, when a medical emergency procedure is activated it is standard response for the communications room to call for an ambulance. This is in partnership with the prison’s healthcare providers – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Welsh Ambulance Service Trust. HMPPS does not hold information about the number of times the ambulance service has been called to attend the prison as the information is held by the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust.
HMP Berwyn works closely with colleagues in the police and have a dedicated police team on site to support with incidents where required. Information about the number of times the police and other enforcement services have been called to attend HMP Berwyn is held by the police.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff, not directly employed by the prison, were employed at HMP Berwyn by the end of each year for (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019 and (d) 2020; and whether he plans for that number to increase over the next three years.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
HMPPS does not hold information about the number of non-directly employed staff who work at HMP Berwyn. This information is held by the individual service providers or supplier and each would have their own plans for potential future recruitment.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of indirectly employed jobs that will be created at each of the new Five Wells and Glen Parva prisons; and whether any of those positions have been filled to date.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The total number of pre-constructed concrete sections delivered to Glen Parva to 21 July 2021 is 5,951. Delivery has been variable between the first delivery which took place on 26 January 2021 and the latest update. This averages out at 234 panels per week. The deliveries to the site are still ongoing.
HMP Five Wells has incorporated 15,183 pre-constructed concrete panels during the installation period between September 2019 to September 2020, averaging out at 290 panels a week. The reason for the variance between the number of panels delivered to each site is due to the difference in delivery stage between the projects. HMP Five Wells has fully completed its pre-cast concrete installation at the point of reporting whereas Glen Parva is still ramping up installation process as of 29 April 2021.
We estimate that there will be around 600-700 permanent jobs created at both HMP Five Wells & Glen Parva once they are open. We will not have a final number of jobs created until these prions are open. An operator has not yet been appointed for Glen Parva and the Department does not currently collect granular workforce data from private prison providers, which includes HMP Five Wells. To publish this data or require the provider to do so would require significant changes to the contracts of all private prison providers and we currently have no plans to do this.
We have interpreted ‘indirectly employed jobs’ as those not employed by the prison operators but indirectly via contractors or part of the supply chain for prison operation. We do not hold this information.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number directly employed permanent jobs that will be created at each of the new Five Wells and Glen Parva prisons; and how many of those jobs have been filled to date.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The total number of pre-constructed concrete sections delivered to Glen Parva to 21 July 2021 is 5,951. Delivery has been variable between the first delivery which took place on 26 January 2021 and the latest update. This averages out at 234 panels per week. The deliveries to the site are still ongoing.
HMP Five Wells has incorporated 15,183 pre-constructed concrete panels during the installation period between September 2019 to September 2020, averaging out at 290 panels a week. The reason for the variance between the number of panels delivered to each site is due to the difference in delivery stage between the projects. HMP Five Wells has fully completed its pre-cast concrete installation at the point of reporting whereas Glen Parva is still ramping up installation process as of 29 April 2021.
We estimate that there will be around 600-700 permanent jobs created at both HMP Five Wells & Glen Parva once they are open. We will not have a final number of jobs created until these prions are open. An operator has not yet been appointed for Glen Parva and the Department does not currently collect granular workforce data from private prison providers, which includes HMP Five Wells. To publish this data or require the provider to do so would require significant changes to the contracts of all private prison providers and we currently have no plans to do this.
We have interpreted ‘indirectly employed jobs’ as those not employed by the prison operators but indirectly via contractors or part of the supply chain for prison operation. We do not hold this information.