Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which criteria were used by his Department to identify land on which to build the proposed prison in Port Talbot.

The site-specific criteria used to select potential sites for a proposed new prison are as follows:

1. Sites of a minimum of around six flat hectares (around 15 acres) of developable area;
2. No clear impediments to achieving planning permission for a prison;
3. Ground conditions such that no abnormal costs expected during development (i.e. not marsh or flood plain and avoiding high probability flood zone);
4. Possible to connect to utilities (water, sewage, gas, electricity) without unreasonable cost;
5. Good access to public transport and motorways or trunk roads;
6. Accessible for prison construction without major enhancement of existing transport infrastructure;
7. No known major factors such as ecological or historic designations on the site or on adjoining land that could prejudice development;
8. Any contamination is manageable;
9. Suitable shape for development;
10. Previously developed or brownfield site; and
11. No significant Public Right of Way, third party rights of access or covenants.

We evaluated over 20 sites in South Wales. We prioritised publicly owned land as we estimated this would provide better value for money for the taxpayer, due to the economic and strategic benefit of doing this rather than going to the market. A strategic preference for sites located along the M4 motorway corridor, for accessibility, and travel time benefits were also identified. This led to 11 publicly owned sites being considered further, with Port Talbot being selected as the best potential site for a new prison build, taking into account the criteria listed above.