Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress his Department has made on the sale of Reading Gaol; what recent estimate he has made of when the sale will be completed; and who the purchaser will be.
The sale of the former Reading Gaol to the Ziran Education Foundation was completed on 10 January.
This sale will provide funds which will be reinvested in the wider prison estate and in turn will help the Ministry of Justice protect the public and reduce re-offending.
I have written to both the honourable member and his colleague, the Rt Hon Member for Reading West, to give further details of the sale.