§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how often, and when, the building of phases I and II of Shotts prison has been delayed over the last 10 years; for how long the plans have been delayed; whether phase II is now proceeding according to plan; by what date he expects completion; and how many more cells will then become available.
§ Mr. AncramThe original concept of Shotts prison was of an establishment for over 1,000 prisoners with construction proceeding in 3 stages. At the project tender stage in 1975, the decision was taken that Phase I only should be proceeded with at that time. This was completed in 1978 and privides 60 inmate places. The decision to proceed with phase II was announced on 10 December 1981 when the programme envisaged a site start in 1983–84 with completion in 1986. Design work hay taken 43W longer than anticipated but is now almost complete. Phase II will provide 468 places and we shall shortly make an announcement about progress.