Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the policy paper entitled 10-year Prison Capacity Strategy, published on 11 December 2024, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that new prison developments do not negatively impact local (a) air and (b) water quality; and whether she plans to put systems in place to monitor the environmental impact of those developments.

All new prison developments require the Ministry of Justice to submit a detailed Environment Impact Assessment. In addition, the Ministry of Justice applies the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) policy, which requires new builds, where technically feasible, to achieve the BREEAM ‘Excellent’ accreditation as a minimum with the ambition to achieve ‘Outstanding’, the highest rating achievable. BREEAM is a third-party certification process which assesses a project’s environmental, social and economic sustainability performance, including specific consideration of water course pollution, air quality and other environmental impacts. Once construction is complete, the Ministry of Justice is committed to monitoring the environmental impact of developments throughout their lifespan in accordance with BREEAM policy and in line with planning condition requirements.