Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the consultation process for the prison sale and building programme.

On 9 November 2015, the government announced a £1.3bn investment to reform and modernise the prison estate to make it more efficient, safer and focused on supporting prisoner rehabilitation. As part of this programme the Ministry of Justice will build new prison places while selling ageing, inefficient prisons to free up land for new homes.These new prisons will be designed to enable prisoners to engage with the educational and other rehabilitative services they need in order to turn their lives around and re-join their communities.

We are in the process of finding sites for new prisons, looking at our own and other government departments’ land holdings, contacting Local Authorities and considering other available sites. No decisions have yet been made on the locations of the new prisons. At the time we indicate our intention to proceed with a site we will carry out a public engagement event in the local area, working with the local authority and others to progress the site through the planning permission process.

Following a decision to close a prison and it subsequently being decommissioned the Ministry of Justice will prepare the site for disposal. The Ministry of Justice will work closely with the local authority and others, on future options for the site. Once a decision is made, the MoJ and its advisors will engage with the market and other stakeholders. No decisions have yet been made about prison sales.