§ 52. Sir John Farrasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the new prison building programme.
§ Mr. MellorThe current building programme includes 16 new prisons, of which three have now been completed, five are under construction, and the remaining eight are at various stages of planning and design. Together these new establishments will provide some 7,800 new places by the early 1990s. As a result of the public expenditure decisions announced in January, design work is now also planned to start on two further establishments. In addition, we are undertaking an extensive programme of modernisation and redevelopment of the existing prison estate, with major capital work in progress or planned at about 100 establishments including almost all of the Victorian local prisons. This part of the programme includes a number of place producing schemes which will provide overall a further 5,400 new places by the same date, making a total of 13,200 in all.