§ Mr. ByersTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many companies have expressed an interest in financing, designing, building-refurbishing, operating and maintaining secure training centres; how many are non United Kingdom companies; and how many of the proposed sites are on existing Home Office land or on alternative sites.
§ Mr. MacleanA total of 25 companies, all United Kingdom registered, have expressed an interest in tendering for the financing, designing, building-refurbishing, operating and maintaining of five secure training centres. The notice placed in the Official Journal of the European Communities invited interested parties to confirm the ability to provide alternative sites on which to build STCs should the Home Office decide not to use its own sites. One site was specified by an interested party at this stage of the tendering cycle.