Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse has been of utility bills in prisons that have been officially closed in each of the last five years.

Where the Ministry of Justice has closed prisons, the level of services, such as heating, water and electricity, is reduced to that necessary to maintain the fabric of the buildings and ensure the sites remain safe and secure until final disposal.

The expenditure on utility bills in prisons which have been officially closed in each of the last five years is set out in the table below:

Footnotes

1. Utilities includes: fuel; electricity; gas; and water & sewage.

2. The costs shown reflect invoices which have been submitted and paid. There is a time lag between services which have been supplied and the submission of invoices by suppliers. The figures may not, therefore, reflect the extent of the services received during the period.

3. The figures provided are drawn from our central accounting system and although care is taken when processing data, this may be subject to the inaccuracies and inputting errors inherent in any large-scale recording system.

4. Expenditure includes that at central (MoJ Estates Directorate) level. The above figures exclude any costs incurred whilst the prisons were operational.

5. Excludes the sites at Wellingborough and Glen Parva which are being redeveloped for new prisons.