Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the cost-effectiveness of private prisons.

We are committed to maintaining a mixed market in custodial services. Private-sector companies continue to have an important role to play in the justice system, bringing innovation and expertise. Private prisons are among the best-performing in the estate and have consistently won praise from independent inspectors. When running operator competitions for new or existing private prisons, our aim is to secure high quality, sustainable, and value for money custodial and maintenance services that are safe, decent, secure, and rehabilitative. In each competition, bidders are required to set out detailed, high quality, value for money prison specific proposals that must meet minimum quality and financial thresholds – which ensures private prisons are assessed for their cost-effectiveness from the start.