§ Mr. RocheTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the cost of building and running a super-max prison of the kind the Director General of the Prison Service is currently visiting in the United States of America. [22311]
§ Mr. Michael Forsyth[holding answer 3 May 1995]: Although some early work has been done on possible construction costs, specific estimates can be prepared only when we know more clearly the requirement for such prisons, how many prisoners they might hold, their location and likely regime. I shall also want to consider the views of Sir John Learmont, who will report shortly on his wide-ranging inquiry into prison security.