Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of locating a temporary prison in the north west of Wales.

We have no plans to locate a temporary prison in North West Wales. HMP Berwyn opened in February 2017, with the potential to hold up to 2,106 men. There is adequate capacity to meet the current demand in North Wales, and across the wider estate in England and Wales.

We took decisive action in March to minimise movements between jails to avoid thousands of prisoners and staff becoming infected with the virus. Strong further measures were introduced to ease pressure on prisons with the early release of low-risk offenders, temporary expansion of the estate, and work to reduce the number of those held on remand.