Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the effect of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 on the number of prison places which are required.

The Ministry of Justice has undertaken analysis of the prison places that would be required as a result of the implementation of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill. Impact Assessments have been published which include estimates for all policies which would either lead to an impact of £5m per annum or more on the public sector, or are likely to attract high levels of interest. These Impact Assessments include estimates of the prison places required and are available here:

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2014-15/criminaljusticeandcourts/documents.html

An updated overarching and final Impact Assessment will be published when the Bill achieves Royal Assent.

This Government will always ensure that we have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts.