Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much in capital receipts has been generated by the disposal of each prison closed since May 2010.

Through the sale of three prisons we have generated capital receipts of over £30.8m and, in doing so, avoided unnecessary costs.

The following prisons have been sold since May 2010:

· HMP Ashwell (2012) £1.34m

· HMP Latchmere House (2013) £22.5m

· HMP Canterbury (2014) £7m.

In addition to these disposals, the lease for HMP Lancaster Castle was handed back to the Duchy of Lancaster in 2012. However, no capital receipt was generated from this.

When disposing of surplus property assets the Ministry of Justice will always seek best value for money for the taxpayer.