Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new prisons have been (a) planned and (b) approved since 5 July 2024.

As set out in the December 2024 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, we are committed to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places and aim to do so by 2031; we have already delivered c.2,600 of these since taking office.

No new prisons have been (a) planned or (b) approved since 5 July 2024.

However, since 5 July 2024, the delivery of c.1,080 places have been approved through the Small Secure Houseblocks programme at the following sites:

• HMP Northumberland

• HMP Lancaster Farms

• HMP Humber

• HMP Ranby

• HMP Onley

• HMP Erlestoke

We have also uplifted the Accelerated Houseblock Delivery Programme by c.125 places at HMP Wayland.