Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on measures to reduce overcrowding in prisons.

The Justice Secretary regularly meets with Cabinet colleagues, including the Home Secretary, to discuss measures that impact on the prison population.

We will always have enough prison places for those sent to prison by the courts, and they are operated in a way that gives taxpayers the best value for money. In 2013/14 crowding in prisons was at the lowest level for 10 years, and, by May 2015, this Government will provide more adult male prison places than it inherited from the previous administration.