Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Bullingdon, published on 1 December 2021, whether the new building planned at HMP Bullingdon will be used to reduce chronic overcrowding at the prison, or to accommodate additional prisoners; and whether it will be included in the Government’s target for additional prison places.

The delivery of a new building to accommodate more prisoners at HMP Bullingdon is to meet projected future demand.

Crowding in prisons is a longstanding issue that will not be easily addressed. We are investing £3.8 billion over the next three years to deliver 20,000 additional modern prison places (inclusive of the places at Bullingdon), including 2,000 temporary prison places across England and Wales by the mid-2020s. These additional prison places will have a positive impact on lowering the proportion of crowding within the prison estate by providing accommodation that is safe, decent and uncrowded. However, the extent to which the proportion of prisoners held in crowded accommodation will ultimately reduce will always be dependent on levels of demand in the system.