Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new prison places are scheduled to be built in the next 12 months.

This Government is committed to continuing the prison build programmes, which include the construction of four further new prisons, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate.

I can confirm that HMP Millsike will deliver c.1,500 places in spring 2025. Construction is well underway on new houseblocks at HMP Fosse Way and HMP Rye Hill, delivering c.700 places between them, alongside the rollout of hundreds more Rapid Deployment Cells.

The Lord Chancellor has committed to publishing a 10-year capacity strategy this year, which will set out the steps we will take to ease capacity pressures, as well as an annual statement on prison capacity.