§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what new money is to be made available and how much for building new prison establishments in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for these matters has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Mr. Derek Lewis to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 30 November 1993:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the funding for the construction of new prison establishments.On 2 September 1993 the Home Secretary announced that the design, construction, management and potential financing of future new prisons would be contracted out to the private sector. It is intended that both the construction and operation of the six new prisons planned will be funded in this way. It is too early to indicate the cost of these prisons which will be assessed on the basis of value for money obtained for the complete financial package comprising both capital and operating costs. Outline proposals and expressions of interest in the first two prisons have recently been invited. It is expected that almost all of the expenditure will fall outside the period covered by the 1993 Public Expenditure Survey (that is, beyond 1996–97).Doncaster prison which is due to open next year is the last of the current programme of 21 new prisons to be built.