§ Baroness Ewart-Biggsasked Her Majesty's Government:
When it is proposed to invite competitive tenders from the private sector for the operation of the new remand centre at Everthorpe; what will be the procedure for submitting tenders; and whether it will be open to non-commercial charitable organisations to submit tenders.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Earl Ferrers)I refer the noble Baroness to the Answer which I gave to my noble friend Lord Elton on 2nd May announcing that invitations to tender for the operation of Wolds remand prison (formerly known as Everthorpe) had been issued to potential contractors.
The tendering procedure began earlier this year when 27 individuals and organisations who had expressed an interest in competing for the contract were invited to take part in a pre-qualification exercise. There was no bar to participation by non-commercial organisations. From those who responded, a short list of nine was drawn up and they will be returning their bids towards the end of July.