§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what negotiations his Department is holding with third parties for the purchase of a prison ship; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what steps his Department has taken to commission the construction of a prison ship or negotiate with a third party for the commissioning of the construction of a prison ship; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter 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 Derek Lewis to Mr. Alex Salmond, dated 2 November 1993:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about prison ships.The Prison Service is considering a number of options as part of its contingency planning to identify ways of increasing the capacity of the prison estate. Marine detention facilities are one of the options being considered.At this stage, no action has been taken to procure a prison ship, although preliminary discussions have taken place. These discussions are confined to existing ships and do not include the construction of new ships.