Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish his estimated projections for the number of prisoners expected to be housed by Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service in each of the next five years.

This prison population projections (for England and Wales from July 2021 to March 2026) are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-population-projections-2021-to-2026.

Please refer to table 1.1 of the statistical tables for the total prison population projection for each year.

We are committed to building as many prison places as we need.

We are investing £3.8 billion over the next three years to deliver 20,000 additional, modern prison places including 2,000 temporary prison places across England and Wales by the mid-2020s. This includes the new prison in Northamptonshire, HMP Five Wells, which received its first prisoners on 4 February 2022 and provides c1700 places.

These additional prison places will ensure we meet our commitments to deliver a robust and fit for purpose prison estate.