Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the operational capacity of prisons in July (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.

The Ministry of Justice published prison population projections for 2022-2027 on 23 February: Prison population projections: 2022 to 2027 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

To meet that demand we are delivering 20,000 extra places – the biggest expansion of prison capacity in over a century. We have already delivered over 3,100 places, including the recent re-roll of HMP Morton Hall and the brand-new prison, HMP Five Wells. 1,700 further places are being created through the delivery of HMP Fosse Way, due to open in spring this year.