Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was raised by his Department from the sale of the former Kingston Prison site in Portsmouth.

We are replacing older accommodation that is expensive to run with newer, cheaper and more efficient accommodation as part of our drive to modernise the prison estate and deliver value for money.

The portfolio of four former prisons – Dorchester, Gloucester, Kingston and Shepton Mallet – was sold for £5million. We worked with a number of organisations, including the local authorities and English Heritage, to ensure best value for the taxpayer from the sale.

The sale of these properties will contribute significantly to our target of raising up to £300m from the disposal of surplus assets in this Spending Review period.