Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to achieve the construction of 14,000 additional prison places by 2031.

This Government will build the prison places that the previous Government promised but failed to deliver because of their inability to stand up to their own backbenches.

We are investing over £2.3 billion in prison building this year and next. The Lord Chancellor set out plans for delivering 14,000 new prison places by 2031 in the 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, which includes the construction of four new prisons, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate and temporary accommodation.

HMP Millsike in Yorkshire is due to open in spring 2025 and will deliver c.1,500 places. Construction of a new c.1,700 place prison near the existing HMP Gartree in Leicestershire is on track to start in the summer, and outline planning permission is in place for a c.1,500 place prison in Buckinghamshire and a c.1,700 place prison in Lancashire. Additionally, new houseblocks at HMP Rye Hill and HMP Fosse Way are due to complete during the course of 2025, providing c.700 places between them. We also continue to roll out hundreds more Rapid Deployment Cells across the estate. We are working with suppliers to deliver these places as quickly as possible.