Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter of 30 March 2017 sent by the Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Justice to the Clerk of the Justice Select Committee on Ministry of Justice Supplementary Estimate Memorandum 2016-17, if he will publish the (a) projected capital spending and (b) funding allocated under Spending Review 2015 for the prison building programme.

We are investing £1.3bn to build up to 10,000 new prison places with better education facilities and other rehabilitative services.

The department is in the process of revising its financial plans to take account of changes to planned timescales due to the election, and also to ensure that the overall plans reflect the priorities of the new government. We will share updated financial plans with the Justice Select Committee in the Autumn. No decisions have been made as to whether there is a role for private finance.