Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average cost to the public purse per unit of the (a) construction or conversion, (b) delivery and deployment on site and (c) maintenance of temporary accommodation cells in England and Wales (i) monthly and (ii) over the expected timespan of cell usage; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (A) security and support from prison staff for that accommodation (1) monthly and (2) over the expected timespan of cell usage and (B) other costs relating to those cells.

The Government acted quickly to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in prisons by implementing restricted regimes to comply with national social distancing guidance and limiting inter-prisons transfers. Prisons are also implementing a ‘compartmentalisation’ strategy to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals. Latest public health advice suggests these measures have limited the spread of the virus and minimised the number of deaths.

HMPPS has deployed temporary accommodation units across some parts of the prison estate to provide additional accommodation to support us in rolling out our compartmentalisation measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. Temporary accommodation is not being used to increase the operational capacity at each site. The measures allow us to isolate prisoners with symptoms, shield the vulnerable and to quarantine new arrivals.

There have been no direct construction or conversion costs for temporary accommodation units. We have, however, hired and purchased units. The total spend on hire and purchase costs (including delivery) at end May 2020 was £3.58m, inclusive of VAT. The overall spend as of the end of May was £4.25m. It is not yet possible to provide the average cost for the delivery and deployment on site, as the installation of all the units is still underway. The total spend on installation costs at end May 2020 was £675k, inclusive of VAT. Installation costs vary according to location and the type of unit being installed.

To date, we have not incurred any maintenance costs for the temporary accommodation cells we have purchased. There are no ongoing maintenance costs involved in units that are hired, however, there are costs associated with restitution and making good once each unit is returned at the end of the hire period.

At some establishments additional security measures, such as additional CCTV and provision of staff offices, have been installed. Where appropriate this has been funded centrally and is reflected in the installation total costs set out above. Some establishments have made further additions which have been absorbed through local budgets or within existing maintenance arrangements. Locally agreed staffing plans are also in place to reflect the needs of each establishment to effectively manage the use of the temporary units, which are funded from existing establishment budgets.

Other than installation costs, there are no centrally managed additional costs or uplifts for the management or security of this accommodation, or recurring costs, as the temporary cells have been deployed in the context of an emergency management plan.

Whilst we continue with the current plan, there is no projection that costs will change. Should prisons move to new regime arrangements, however, local changes will be needed that could have impact on ongoing and recurring costs. We will nonetheless always seek to gain the best possible value for the taxpayer.