Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish proposals on the future of the prison estate in England and Wales.

On 3 November 2016, the then Secretary of State for Justice published a White Paper on Prison Safety and Reform outlining the Ministry of Justice’s plans for radical reform of the prison system.

This included an ambitious agenda to modernise the prison estate, improve education and empower governors, to help tackle violence, reduce reoffending and keep staff and prisoners safe.

As part of our wholescale reforms, we are investing £1.3bn to modernise the estate. This will include closing older prisons that are not fit for purpose, and creating in their place high-quality, modern establishments

On 22 March 2017, we announced plans, subject to planning approvals, value for money and affordability, to build four modern prisons: adjacent to HM Prison Full Sutton in Yorkshire (with a pre-planning consultation event held on 11 and 12 April 2017), Port Talbot in Neath, and redevelop HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Rochester in Kent and HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Hindley, in Greater Manchester. This is in addition to the plans previously announced for new sites at former HMP Wellingborough and HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Glen Parva.

On the 19 July 2017 we announced that we still plan to redevelop the prisons at Rochester and Hindley as part of our prison modernisation programme. However, cells at these sites will be kept in use for now, as part of forward-planning for the estate.

No further decisions have been made beyond those that have already been announced.