Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to reduce overcrowding on the prison estate in the last six months.

Prison numbers can fluctuate, which is why we have a robust set of plans in place to ensure we will always have enough places for offenders committed to custody by the courts. This includes modernising the estate and building new accommodation.

We will modernise the prison estate, closing older prisons that are not fit for purpose and creating in their place high-quality, rehabilitative establishments. We have started to redevelop the prisons at Glen Parva (Leicestershire) and Wellingborough (Northamptonshire). We are building a new houseblock at Stocken prison (Rutland). Additionally, we plan to build four modern prisons which includes the development of sites at Full Sutton (East Yorkshire), Hindley (Greater Manchester), Rochester (Kent) and Port Talbot (Neath Port Talbot, South Wales).

The Verne, a former HM Prison and Probation Service operated immigration removal centre in Dorset, will be reopening as a prison as early as possible this year and is expected to house 580 offenders.