Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether there was a public sector bid for the contract to build the prison scheduled for Wellingborough.

There was not a public sector bid as the Government does not have a construction arm. As a result of a fair and open competition that considered a range of factors including value for money for the taxpayer, the department announced Kier Construction Limited and Interserve Construction Limited as the preferred bidders for the Wellingborough and Glen Parva redevelopments respectively. The final contracts are subject to full business case approval later this year.