Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeff Smith and Mary Robinson

Tuesday 14th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

10. What progress his Department has made on delivering 20,000 new prison places.

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

13. What steps he is taking to increase prison capacity.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Chalk)]

Thanks to funding from the Prime Minister when he was Chancellor, we are delivering the largest prison building programme since the Victorian era, with 10,000 additional places on track to be delivered by the end of next year. To secure the pipeline of further prisons, last October I announced an investment of £30 million to acquire land even further in advance to mitigate the risk of planning delay. We are also delivering an additional 460 rapid deployment cells across the estate.